Darrien Hunt’s Mom : “My son was killed because he was Black”

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22-year-old Darrien Hunt was carrying a sword when police stopped him. Police claim that he lunged at them when he was fatally shot, but witnesses say he was running away.

Darrien Hunt was killed by police in Utah

Darrien Hunt was killed September 10th by Saratoga Springs, Utah police when they responded to a ‘suspicious’ call of a man walking around a restaurant carrying a “Samurai-type sword.”

Witnesses say that once police arrived, Hunt took off running. However, police say Hunt lunged at them with the sword.

Darrien Hunt’s mother believes her son was killed because was black.

“No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he’s running away,” Susan Hunt, Darrien Hunt’s mother, told the Deseret News.

It took nearly three days for police to release a statement. According to the Desert News, police claimed in the brief statement issued Saturday that Hunt was coming toward officers when he was shot.

“When the officers made contact with Mr. Hunt, he brandished the sword and lunged toward the officers with the sword, at which time Mr. Hunt was shot,” Utah County Chief Deputy Attorney Tim Taylor said in a prepared statement viewed by the Deseret News. “There is currently no indication that race played any role in the confrontation between Mr. Hunt and the police officers.”

He was shot multiple times from behind

According to the Hunt’s family attorney, a private autopsy shows that Darrien was shot multiple times from behind.

“This is consistent with statements made by witnesses on the scene, who report that Darrien was shot to death while running away from police,” Randall Edwards, the family’s attorney, said in a statement. “It would appear difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile these facts with a story that Darrien was lunging toward the officers when he was shot.”

According to the Deseret News, Hunt had been walking around “near Panda Express restaurant, a gas station, an auto parts store and a credit union” with the sword strapped to his back.

A photo of Hunt and the police just moments before he was shot shows the young man standing between the police but doesn’t show the sword.

So the question is what happens that landed Hunt dead?

 Read More on Deseret News