Group rallies for man shot by Moraine police, says lawsuit coming

A Dayton-born reverend told a group of more than three dozen protesters that Jamarco McShann’s Oct. 20 death at the hands of the Moraine police department should signal a turning point in the demand for justice for black men shot by law enforcement.

“I for one am tired of watching folks sit on the sideline. It’s time to get off the bench and get in this game. We have to fight for change,” said Rev. Jerome McCorry, the president and CEO of the National Congress on Faith & Social Justice. “The death of Marco should not be in vain. Marco’s name should long be remembered as the rallying cry that finally made people stop sitting in their living room, looking at the news and saying I need to do something.”

People gathered Saturday afternoon outside the Moraine police department on Dryden Avenue as organizers urged them to fight for change, register to vote and return again for community meetings and more rallies. McCorry also said a federal civil wrongful death lawsuit against Moraine’s police department will be filed in the coming weeks.

RELATED: Moraine police shooting a first for the city

McShann, 23, died after two Moraine police officers fired at him after police said the Dayton man pointed a loaded semi-automatic pistol at them and failed to heed their warnings.

Moraine police Chief Craig Richardson has said officers John Howard and Jerry Knight were investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle at an apartment complex at 3750 Pinnacle Road when the encounter occurred. Howard and Knight were placed on paid administrative leave.

RELATED: Moraine officer-involved shooting: 5 questions we’re asking

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has assumed control of the case at the request of the Moraine Police Division. Richardson said an internal investigation

McShann’s mother, Sabrina Jordan, said her son was “over-killed” by Moraine police, who are not equipped with body cameras and whose police cruisers do not have the devices either, according to Moraine city law director Buzz Portune.

RELATED: What we know about Jamarco McShann

“There’s going to be a lot of stuff coming up. This is just the beginning. I’m not letting this go,” Jordan said. “I’ve lost three sons. One to street violence, another one to the prison system and now, Jamarco, to the police. I’m tired. I’m done. I’m fighting.”

Minister Raleigh Thornton Jr. said: “We need some people that’s ready to hit the ground right here in Dayton, Ohio, Moraine, Kettering, Beavercreek. We all need to be on the same page of saying, ‘No murder will go unpunished. No life — white, black, Chinese — is worth being killed if you have not done anything wrong.”

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McCorry said private investigators also are studying evidence and talking to witnesses to the shooting.

“We’re here to fight for justice for that young man because we feel his life was unjustly taken,” McCorry said. “We’re looking to have some officers charged, indicted, convicted for the murder of our people, and that includes Jamarco McShann.”

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