Nineteen-year-Old Zachary Hammond Shot And Killed By Seneca Police
HARLOW: Tomorrow marks one year since an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.</s>HARLOW: Earlier today, crowds turned out to celebrate Michael brown's life and to mark the anniversary of his death. His death, of course, sparked national outrage and led to protests across this country. We are learning more now about another fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager. This one in South Carolina. Nick Valencia reports.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the Seneca police department calls it a justified shooting, saying their officer feared for his life. But the parents of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond say their son did not have to die.</s>VALENCIA (voice-over): July 26th, 2015, 19-year-old Zachary Hammond is on a date with 23-year-old tori Morton, who is the target of a drug sting. When they pull into a Hardee's parking lot, police are waiting. According to police report, Hammond, who was driving, attempted to strike an officer with his vehicle during the attempted arrest. He shot twice. He dies at the scene.</s>JOHN COVINGTON, SENECA POLICE CHIEF: It's a horrible situation. I mean, you get put in a predicament. And sometime you know when you sign up to be a police officer that that potential in your career that you might have to use deadly force. The Seneca police chief says his officer is a victim, too.</s>ERIC BLAND, ATTORNEY FOR ZACHARY HAMMOND'S FAMILY: A victim of attempted murder. That's what the police chief.</s>PAUL HAMMOND, VICTIM'S FATHER: I have a hard time believing it when my son is no longer here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That he's the victim.</s>VALENCIA: The Hammonds say police have not given them answers. So they went looking for their own. An independent autopsy they conducted shows their son was shot from behind and at close range. The family attorney adds the results show the car was stopped at the time of the shooting.</s>ANGIE HAMMOND, VICTIM'S MOTHER: It's been very hard. Not only are we grieving that our son is gone, we don't know why it happened or what happened. We're just trying to find the answers.</s>VALENCIA: Lieutenant Mark Tiller, the officer involved in the shooting, is a ten year veteran and has no history of getting in trouble. In a statement, Tiller's attorney put the blame on the 19- year-old Hammond. In order to stop the continuing threat to himself and the genuine public, two shots were fired by Lieutenant Tiller in quick succession. If not for Lieutenant Tiller's quick reflexes and his ability to push off the car, lieutenant Tiller would have easily been run over by Mr. Hammond. On Friday, Hammond supporters held a vigil, in hopes that attention to his killing will bring them answers from police.</s>VALENCIA: The South Carolina law enforcement division is investigating the incident. They tell CNN they're still collecting evidence. We've reached out to them ask for the dash-cam video of the incident. But they say it's a part of an ongoing investigation and will not be releasing it at this time -- Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Nick Valencia, reporting. Coming up next, a few Pew poll showing that and increase in the number of Americans that view racism as a major problem in this country. We'll break it down next.