A community is in outrage after a 19-year-old girl was shot and killed by police early Saturday morning while leaving a party.
A recently released dash cam video shows the events leading to the shooting as Boone County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Brockman tried to stop 19-year-old Samantha Ramsay from driving away from a party in Hebron, Kentucky. Brockman attempted to stop the vehicle unsuccessfully and then pursued the girl and her friends in the vehicle on foot. He then allegedly jumped onto the hood of the vehicle and fired four shots into the windshield, immediately killing Samantha Ramsey.
Brockman insists that Ramsey was attempting to run him over in the process, thus requiring him to use deadly force in the situation.
The video released does not show the foot pursuit, the actual shooting nor does it have any audio.
After the shots were fired, the vehicle slammed into a ditch and viewers can see the smoke from the crash as it begins to billow on screen. This is soon followed by the two passengers of Ramsey’s vehicle making their way onto the road and collapsing in disbelief. One friend can be seen rocking back and forth uncontrollably as he realizes what has happened.
The 45-minute video then shows ambulances arriving over a period of time and leaving amongst a commotion, presumably with the body of Samantha Ramsey.
During the vigil held by family and friends of the young girl, outrage began to develop as the story began to spread.
“That’s murder!’ shouted friend Gunner Buemi.
“Justice needs to be done about this injustice. We’re all sitting here lighting candles, being quiet when the government is out here shooting. Any other human would have been put in jail for that. He needs to answer for what he did to that family.”
“Just to be shot four times that’s excessive. That wasn’t right. He could have killed the other three people that were in the car,” said Lynsy Hall, another friend of Ramsey’s.
The mother of the victim grieved with roughly 150 other people while wanting answers to what exactly happened to her daughter early Saturday morning.
“I just want to know what happened. I want answers. The officer involved … I’m not, I’m not an unreasonable person. I’m realistic. He was the last person that looked in my daughter’s eyes that saw her face and I want answers,” she said.
While many question the motives of Deputy Brockman, a legal analyst for local affiliate Fox19 doesn’t believe the officer will face any charges, saying that it’s rare for police officers to be charged and convicted of on-duty shootings that result in a fatality.
Deputy Brockman suffered an injury to his leg and has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation surrounding the shooting has been resolved.