A Wilmington councilman has asked the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the police-involved shooting death of a wheelchair-bound man after state authorities declined to file charges in the case.
Councilman Jea P. Street sent the letter to Loretta Lynch and Charles Oberly, Delaware's U.S. Attorney, on Tuesday asking them to review the state's probe into the death and further investigate. The state released the results of their investigation last week.
Jeremy McDole died after officers opened fire on him during a confrontation last September. The incident was caught on video by bystanders.
Police were called to the scene after a person called 911 to say McDole had fired three shots, and possibly shot himself, along the 1800 block of Tulip Street.
McDole, 28, who was paralyzed from the waist down, was shot three times after officers said he failed to comply with orders to show his hands, according to a state department of justice investigation. Police said they found a handgun in the man's shorts.
The state's investigation found the officers did not break the law, but did say one officer, Senior Corporal Joseph Dellose, exercised extremely poor judgment and should be fired for his role in the shooting.
Dellose was chastised by state investigators for surprising McDole and then only giving him two seconds to comply with his orders before opening fire with his shotgun, according to the state report. State investigators said they would've liked to file assault charges against the officer, but they felt the case wasn't strong enough.
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McDole's family has filed a civil lawsuit against the police department.
The councilman included a copy of the state's report along with his letter asking federal authorities to investigate McDole's death.
NBC10 reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office for comment, but has yet to hear back.
