Group Protests Officer Shooting of Lamontez Jones

A group gathered in downtown to protest the shooting of Lamontez Jones, a 39-year-old man killed by officers in the Gaslamp.

“The last time I checked when somebody murdered somebody they were out in jail,” protester Xaviar McGregor shouted through a bullhorn Saturday night.

“We’re here primarily to raise the cry that Africans are being killed in the streets indiscriminately across this entire country,” McGregor told NBC7. “Here specifically the San Diego Police Department has a very high rate of murder in the streets and we need to address it on a citywide level and so we have to get the community involved."

McGregor said economic development in underprivileged communities is the real issue more than police body cameras, sensitivity training or anything else. “When we see our children in schools failing and budgets being cut…we need to invest in education not building more prisons."

Moments before his death, Lamontez Jones ran into the middle of the street, pulled what appeared to be a large caliber handgun from his backpack and pointed it at the officers, according to police officials. The gun later turned out to be a steel replica.

Officers did not turn on their body cameras before the shooting something Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman defended.

"Things happened so very quickly, I think everyone will understand it's reasonable that officer safety and public safety will take precedence over an officer's ability to record," she said last month in a press conference.

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news Apr 15

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Authorities say Jones had a history of violence. A suspected armed robber from Virginia, court records showed he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his roommate.

“Justice for Lamontez Jones!” they cried in unison.

The protesters made a list of demands, which included the indictment of the officers who shot Jones, the release of the police report, and for local media outlets to revise their stories with the protesters' sources instead of the police. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

"This is just another case where a young man was killed, where's there's not enough evidence and the community is really out here crying for more," McGregor said.