INDIANAPOLIS — Kim Gray, joined on Tuesday by her family and her lawyer, walked out of the City-County Building in downtown Indianapolis after watching unedited body camera video of her son’s death for more than an hour.
Eric Taylor, Gray’s son, was shot and killed by police on Sept. 19 on the southside of Indy. Police said Taylor threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and their children. Taylor then led police on a chase, it ended in an apartment complex parking lot where Taylor refused to drop a gun and told police to shoot him.
Tuesday, six weeks to the day, Gray watched the unedited body camera video with family, Stephen Wagner, her lawyer, and Shawn Bennett, a local pastor who has assisted the family during this time.
Afterward, Wagner told reporters the family would not be talking at this time, opting to wait until the body camera video is released to the public.
Bennett did talk to reporters about what the family is going through and what they’re waiting on now.
”I don’t know what it would be like to go through what they have,” Bennett said. “They are strong, they have a lot of daily support.”
At a vigil held in Taylor’s honor in September, Bennett led the family in prayer and the family asked for more mental health services to assist officers before resorting to deadly force.
“Where are our psychologists and sociologists that are supposed to be out here dealing with these people before you shoot and kill him?” said Kim Gray, Taylor’s mother. “They could have tased him. They could have shot him with a rubber bullet. They could have done a number of things.”
Bennett said he believes the family will speak more once the public sees the body camera video from IMPD.
”Once all the facts are out I’m sure we’ll have a complete statement,” Bennett said.
IMPD releases an edited video breaking down each officer involved shooting in the weeks after the incident.
IMPD would not say when this critical incident video would be released but both Bennett and Wagner expect it to be out in the next few weeks.
