Chavis Carter shooting death to be investigated by FBI

The shooting death of Chavis Carter, the 21-year-old who was shot and killed while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car in Jonesboro, Ark., will now be investigated by the FBI.

The investigation comes amid questions on who pulled the trigger that fateful night that took this young man’s life. Police claim Carter killed himself, using a hidden hand-gun they failed to find after searching him twice. Family members are not buying it, saying police killed him and are trying to cover it up.

Carter suffered one fatal gun shot wound to the head. Carter was stopped along with passengers on Saturday night during a routine traffic stop in Jonesboro, Ark, about 1/2 hours from Little Rock. He was detained after officers found marijuana and empty baggies. Further investigation found Carter had a warrant in Mississippi, after searching him twice, officers placed him in the back of a patrol car. Minutes later officers allege they hear a thumping noise, and find Carter slumped over.

Chavis Carter Shooting Death To Be Investigated By FBI

“We’ve been asked to get involved,” Kim Brunell, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Little Rock office, told The Huffington Post on Thursday. The bureau’s ballistics experts will join the probe, she said.

Police said Carter retrieved a gun that he’d hid, raised it to his head and pulled the trigger. A clear case of suicide, they said. The handcuffs, they said, were “double locked.”

“Any given officer has missed something on a search, you know, be it drugs, be it knives, be it razor blades,” Sgt. Lyle Waterworth of the Jonesboro police told a local news station. “This instance, it happened to be a gun.”

His mother, Teresa Carter, disagrees. “I can’t see how, I think they killed him,” she said. “My son wasn’t suicidal.”

Police say they have also started their own investigation.

“We are actively trying to determine how that happened,” Yates said.

“There’s no indication of any projectiles coming from outside the vehicle. We’ve reviewed the dashcam video and as late as today managed to have some witnesses come forward that observed the incident from start to finish,” Yates said. “And their statements tend to support that whatever transpired in the back of that police car transpired in the back with the officers in a different location.”

The two officers on the scene the night of the shooting have been placed on administrative duties, according to reports.