“If I Would Have Complied, I Would Have Got Killed”: Black Man Avoids Being Shot By Cop, Records Whole Ordeal

Edrick Truitt was parked at a convenience store waiting to meet up with his family before going back to his home in Jonesboro, Arkansas when police officers from the Helena-West Helena Police Department came to clear the lot.

As the man was leaving the parking lot, he was reportedly blocked in by another car. It was at that moment when a police officer approached Truitt and pointed a gun at him. Fearing for his life, Truitt immediately started streaming the encounter on Facebook Live.

“As we get to leaving out, a car jumped in front of me so I hit my brakes to let them go by,” Truitt told WREG. By that time, he claims his car was blocked in and he couldn’t move it becoming the center of attention and from that point on, things just kept escalating.

Truitt said he started filming with his cell phone just in case. “I started rolling because he jumped out with his gun.” According to him, even though the officer made demands, Truitt didn’t want to make a single move. “Played it safe.”

“He was like, ‘That’s a failure to comply,’ but if I would have complied, I would have got killed.”

In the video, the officer can be heard telling Truitt to turn off the car and that he won’t shoot. The officer even said his body camera was on and rolling the whole time. But Truitt said he didn’t believe the officer so he didn’t turn the car off. Also, he wanted to have his own proof of the whole ordeal.

Police said they found a gun in the back of Truitt’s car which he never denied having with him. When WREG asked Truitt if he thought the cop was afraid of him having a gun, he said, “Yeah, probably so.” But the man added that the gun wasn’t within his reach and the officers had nothing to worry about.

“What I did saved my life,” Truitt added. “That’s why I’m here talking to ya’ll. If not, ya’ll would probably be covering a story about how I got shot.” In the end, he was arrested for loitering and disregarding an official order.

The officer is now getting threats and was off duty in the days following the incident. The police, meanwhile, are checking body cameras and getting statements from other officers who were involved in the incident to determine if any rules were broken.

People watching the live stream couldn’t believe their eyes

Watch the entire video below

Here’s what people said about the incident

I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

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What do you think ?

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Foxxy 5 years ago

Seems like the first thing Cops do in the US is pull their guns out. Very very rarely see that happening in Australia, NZ and the UK etc. Seems like shoot now, ask questions later. A very trigger happy country that is ruining countless lives.

50points

Lars Lasersson 5 years ago

Yeah, it's shocking to find story after story of people getting shot for no reason, or because of a small misunderstanding. Does someone here know how long U.S. police is trained before going out on the streets? As I live in Finland, I know that Finnish police go to school for 2 - 3 years, and their training includes stress handling skills in risky situations, to avoid misinterpreting various objects as guns etc. This effort is put in in a country with much much lower street crime rates than the U.S...

21points

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Kiahna 5 years ago

Right? I’m in Australia and I’ve known people who were officers their whole lives and have never touched their gun out in the field. Ever.

11points

Christina Sersif 5 years ago

It’s a race issue. I’ve been stopped by the cops or pulled aside many times in my life (I’m a speed demon lol) and none of them have ever pulled a gun on me. If I was black though it would be a different story.

7points

TheExtremeSmell 5 years ago

Mainly bc anyone is the US could be legally or illegally carrying a firearm which I have to assume isn’t the case in the countries you mentioned? So it’s probably the reason? Lol

3points

Schrödinger's Dog 5 years ago

It's horrible that a lot of police officers do things like this, but the majority are people who just keep the law and are very good people. But a police officer just doing his or her job never makes the news.

1point

Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago

How can you rarely see police in the UK bringing a gun out? They do NOT have guns, so you NEVER see a UK cop pull a gun out, stop inventing things

0points

Rage Racer 5 years ago

I'm African American. I love it here! I've had MANY interaction with cops even with my CCW on me and I've never EVER had a gun point at me when it was not warranted in any of these interactions. For every story you see like this there are many others that ended well that are not reported. I myself am very trigger happy.....at the range and I love my freedom and right to be able to do so. Australia, NZ, and the UK are cool but I am good where I am at!

0points

John Smith 5 years ago

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Delilah Jones 5 years ago (edited)

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Heiko Fischer 5 years ago (edited)

A country ruled by paranoia. Would hate to live there.

18points

Lars Lasersson 5 years ago

I agree. There are lots of places I would love to see in the U.S. but this sort of c**p makes me choose other countries for my vacation trips.

8points

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Shireen 5 years ago

I'm so happy I live in The UK, where I can say hello to Police Officers in Central London holding M4 rifles without the fear confrantation. US Police officers need serious reform - it blows my mind that this is still happening. But of course, not all of the people that record these incidents are completely innocent....

14points

Carmen McLellan 5 years ago

Innocent isn’t the point. People shouldn’t have to fear summary execution because the officer was afraid or confused.

5points

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Foxxy 5 years ago

50points

Lars Lasersson 5 years ago

21points

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Kiahna 5 years ago

Right? I’m in Australia and I’ve known people who were officers their whole lives and have never touched their gun out in the field. Ever.

11points

Christina Sersif 5 years ago

7points

TheExtremeSmell 5 years ago

Mainly bc anyone is the US could be legally or illegally carrying a firearm which I have to assume isn’t the case in the countries you mentioned? So it’s probably the reason? Lol

3points