Former Florida A&M football player killed in North Carolina

Jonathan A. Ferrell, 24
(Courtesy: FAMU Athletics)

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — An unarmed man who was shot and killed by a police officer in North Carolina after a wreck was a former football player for Florida A&M University, school officials said Sunday.

Jonathan A. Ferrell, 24, played for the school in 2009-10 and had recently moved to North Carolina. Early Saturday, he had apparently been in a wreck and was seeking help at a nearby house, according to a statement from Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. A woman answered the door and, when she didn't recognize the man, called 911.

Officers responding to the breaking-and-entering call found Ferrell a short distance from the home, police said. As they approached him, Ferrell ran toward the officers and was hit with a Taser. Police said he continued to run toward them when officer Randall Kerrick fired his gun, hitting Ferrell several times. Ferrell died at the scene.

Police called Ferrell and Kerrick's initial encounter " appropriate and lawful. But in their statement late Saturday, they said "the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive" and "Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter."



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