Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An Alabama man killed on Thanksgiving when police shot him, mistakenly believing him to be a mall gunman, was hit in the back by three bullets, an independent autopsy revealed Monday.
Ben Crump, a lawyer for the family of Emantic "E.J." Bradford released the findings during a news conference.
The autopsy determined he was shot three times, with one bullet entering the back of his head, one near the back of his hip and the third in the neck. Witnesses said Bradford was running away from police at the time he was hot.
"There is a laceration of the right side of the face at the eyebrow consistent with falling face-forward on the right side of the head," Crump wrote in a document issued along with the announcement. "The cause of death is gunshot wound of the head. The manner of death is homicide."
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Hoover, Ala., police officers shot Bradford, 21, on Nov. 22 at the Riverchase Galleria Mall near Birmingham. The officers had responded to reports of gunfire at the scene and found Bradford allegedly holding a gun -- they believed him to be the gunman.
The shooting was the result of an alleged altercation between Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 20, and Brian Wilson, 18. Bradford's friend, Wilson, and a 12-year-old girl were injured in that initial altercation.
Police arrested Brown a week later in Georgia on an attempted murder charge.
Though police initially said Bradford fired the rounds that injured Wilson and the girl, after more interviews and investigation, they said Nov. 23 it was unlikely he was the shooter.
"We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not," police officials said in a statement.
"We believe based on this forensic evidence that this officer should be charged with a crime," Crump said Monday. "There's nothing that justifies him shooting E.J. as he's moving away from him. You're not a threat when you're running away."
Hoover police officials did not release the name of the officer who fatally shot Bradford, but said he was placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation is conducted.
Bradford's death sparked protests over the officers' alleged excessive use of force, with family members saying the man had a license to carry the gun he held.
Bradford's funeral was held Saturday.
