JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sitting with a picture of her son in front on her, Yvonne Cooks was in tears as she, her family and their attorney talked about the shooting death of Antonio Cooks by a Jacksonville police officer last week.
"I just want some answers. I just want the truth," she said. "It's not going to kill you to tell the truth. Come on out and tell the truth. If you are wrong, you are wrong."
Recommended Videos
Antonio Cooks, 32, was shot and killed in a St. Nicholas apartment complex May 24 shortly after he and two other bondsmen called police for help with a suspect they were looking to arrest, police said. The bondsmen were working with officers to apprehend someone in the apartment, police said. Those officers left, and minutes later, police received a call saying masked men were trying to break into the apartment, police said.
Police said another group of officers arrived and saw Cooks in a mask, and one officer opened fire, killing Cooks. Verne Williams, 37, was also shot by the officer.
Video:
At a news conference Thursday morning, Cooks' family said they just want answers from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office about what happened.
Cooks' brother talked about what he heard from other bondsmen who were at the scene after the shooting happened.
"In the midst of them identifying themselves as bond agents to JSO, that's when shots rang out," Cooks' brother, Cornelius Cooks, said. "When they heard the gunshot, Verne Williams went around one side as the third bond agent and the Jacksonville sheriff's officer went to the other side. As they approached the back, they were yelling, 'Cease fire. We're bond agents.' The officer then turned his weapon and fired upon Verne Williams, hitting him several times. In the midst of all this, the other officer, as well as the third bond agent, was also screaming 'cease fire' from a different direction."
The family said Cooks identified himself as a bond agent and was also wearing a shirt that identified him as a bondsman, and they can't understand why the officer killed him. Cornelius Cooks said police never identified themselves and just started shooting.
"If you can identify him as a black male at that time, how could you not see that it says surety agent on his shirt and on his sleeve?" Cornelius Cooks said.
The family and their attorney said they believe there is more information that JSO isn't disclosing.
"There is some cover-up going on, and they are excluding a lot of details that is pertinent to this case regarding my brother's shooting," Cornelius Cooks said.
JSO declined to comment because of a chance of litigation and their own ongoing investigation.
The family's attorney said JSO should say something.
"What else could Antonio Cooks have done to avoid the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office from killing him?" family attorney Benjamin Crump said. "It is one of those things that this incident cries out for some oversight, some community of citizens review of police-involved shootings."
Cooks will be buried Saturday morning at the Southside Church of God in Christ.