Partial body camera footage released by police Monday showed Moody running from officers after they said they wanted to talk to him.
“Come here and talk to me real quick,” the officer says to Moody. A woman asks, “Who?” and the officer says, “This man right here,” gesturing toward Moody.
While running through a grass lot, Moody turned over his left shoulder to look at police and was shot.
“That’s when the first shot is fired, when he’s turning and it looks like something is in his right hand,” said Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal. “At least that’s what the video shows.”
The officers fired a total of eight shots. Moody was struck once on the side of his left shoulder, causing internal injuries, according to Afzal.
Dayton Unit NAACP President Derrick Foward said it’s not clear why police singled out Moody and that the community needs to know what police were thinking at the time of the shooting.
“We don’t know if they had information beforehand,” he said. “... We would like to see what the statement of account was because only he knows what was going through his mind.”
Foward also said Moody may have been trying to get rid of the gun when he was shot.
“If I know that I’m not supposed to have a firearm, then I’m going to try to ditch the firearm. That’s something that most people will do,” he said.
The NAACP has a pamphlet guiding people on what to do if they encounter police on the street, in their home or in their vehicle to avoid similar incidents from happening, he added.
Foward also discussed ways to reduce violence in the city after more than a dozen people were shot and three were killed in six shootings in Dayton from June 22-26.
“One solution could be getting the guns off the street,” he said.
Rev. David L. Fox, a Dayton Unit NAACP chair, spoke about a gun buyback program previously implemented in Dayton.
“The mission of it is to take legal and illegal guns off the streets,” he said. “That’s number one, and number two is to change the attitude and perception of citizens that Black lives matter. And they do.”
Fox said the program was able to take 286 guns off the streets.
The organization has shared the program with Afzal, who is open to the idea and willing to explore it, Foward said.
He acknowledged the program would need funding and city commission approval for budgeting.
“I don’t know what much money it will cost,” Foward said. “...If we’re able to get it done in the short run or if it’s something that will take a few months to be able to get funding. Whatever the length of time, we want to be able to work with the city, want to be able to work with the county just to make it happen.”
He also discussed the emotional toll the repeated violence takes on families in Dayton.
“We have families that are hurting every single time we have these incidents,” Foward said.
He added the NAACP is continuing to pray for the Moody family and hopes they find peace.
“I want them to understand that we’re here with you,” he said. “We’re praying with you. We’re going to be here with your attorney and support you.”
Through May, there have been 11 people killed in homicides, including nine Black people, according to Foward.
“We’ve got to spread the peace,” Morris Brown, a Dayton Unit NAACP chair, said. “We’ve got to promote love. We’ve got to promote hope.”
He noted studies show children who witness violence can grow up and become perpetuators of violence.
Brown encouraged anyone who needs mental health counseling, life coaching or other assistance to contact the Hope Center for Families at 937-723-8254.
“Let’s look at all aspects of violence,” Brown said. “Let’s stay focused on this. Let’s not take our eyes off the prize, and the prize is to expand the peace.”
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