By Michael Pearson. Christina Zdanowicz and David Mattingly, CNN
Tue January 7, 2014
Photo courtesy of policestateusa.com
(CNN) – Seventy seconds: That’s how long a North Carolina family says it took for things to go horribly wrong as they sought police help dealing with their mentally ill son.
Keith Vidal, 18, died Sunday. According to CNN affiliate WECT, he was just shot 1 minute and 10 seconds after a third law enforcement officer showed up at his Brunswick County home.
The three officers all were from different jurisdictions, and family members say that the third officer — who came from a nearby city — turned what had been an improving situation into an unnecessarily aggressive encounter that ended in their son’s death.
“There was no reason to shoot this kid,” the teen’s stepfather, Mark Wilsey, told WECT on Monday. “They killed my son in cold blood. We called for help, and they killed my son.”
Although the state Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, the chief prosecutor for the state’s 13th Judicial District, which includes Brunswick County, says it’s way too early to characterize what happened.
“I think that we can certainly understand why this family is upset right now,” the Wilmington Star-News newspaper quoted District Attorney Jon David as saying. “They just lost a child, and certainly my thoughts and prayers are with them. But what they want from this office today is justice, and I intend to give them exactly that.”
CNN first learned of the shooting through an iReport sent by a family friend. The iReport received more than 50,000 views in 24 hours.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon when the mother and stepfather of the Boiling Spring Lakes man called police. According to stepbrother Mark Ryan Wilsey, Vidal had schizophrenia and “was having an episode,” and his parents wanted police to subdue him so he could get help.
“He’s not doing very good. You’ve got to get him someplace,” a man who identified himself as Vidal’s stepfather said on a 911 call, a copy of which was obtained by WECT. “He wants to fight his mother. … She’s scared to death of him right now.”
The caller said that Vidal “won’t take his medication” and that his family has had “to put him in before, (and) he’s getting real bad again.”
“He’s just, he’s not right,” he said.
Two officers arrived and began talking with Vidal, according to CNN affiliate WWAY. The situation was relatively calm until a third officer — a detective from the nearby city of Southport — arrived, the family said.
“Everything was going good,” Mark Wilsey said, according to WWAY. “Then this fat cop from Southport walks in the room, walks around the corner, says, ‘We don’t have time for this. Tase that kid now. Let’s get him out of here.’ ”
The stepfather said Vidal tried to run but was struck with two Taser charges and fell backward. He said the first two officers to respond got on top of Vidal.
WECT attributed a slightly different accounting of events to Mark Wilsey. In that retelling, the stepfather said officers had pinned Vidal to the ground after he had been tased and one of the officers said, “We don’t have time for this” and shot his stepson.