The family of a man who was shot and killed by law enforcement after he helped carry his father’s coffin is demanding answers.
Jason Arnie Owens, 37, was a pallbearer at his father’s funeral on 24 August, when he was shot dead in front of 40 mourners by two plainclothes officers outside a funeral home in West Virginia, the Associated Press reported.
Family members claim the officers opened fire before Mr Owens realised what was happening.
The officers arrived at the scene to enforce a fugitive warrant and called the victim’s name but did not give him a chance to surrender, loved ones alleged.
The US Marshals Service did not reveal why a warrant had been issued against Mr Owens but told the news organisation he had a gun at the moment of the arrest, a claim disputed by witnesses.
“They yelled Jason’s name. They just said ‘Jason’ and then started firing,” Cassandra Whitecotton, a family friend, said. “There was no identifications they were US Marshals — anything. They did not render this man any aid at all. Never once they touched him to render any aid whatsoever.”
Mr Owen’s funeral on Friday follows a rally last week outside the Harrison County Courthouse, where protesters demanded answers about his killing.
Authorities have refused to clarify details citing an ongoing investigation and told the AP in a statement that responding officers had rendered first aid to Mr Owens.
Bodycam footage from marshals, if existing, is unlikely to be released as the state’s law does not require authorities to do so during an investigation.
“We want to know why you would do this in front of his family,” Mandy Swiger, his cousin said. “And what gives you the right to do that to an unarmed man?”
Tracy Hahn, a security consultant and retired police officer, said in those circumstances, Marshals usually wait for funeral services to finish before making any arrests.
“If they’ve been searching for someone and they finally figure out where they are, they’re going to get them,” Ms Hahn told the AP.
“There must be some extenuating circumstance that they felt the urgency to arrest him then instead of waiting if there was some risk factor, an escape risk or something like that.”
In 2018, Mr Owens was sentenced to three to 13 years in prison for allegedly attempting to strangle a Harrison County sheriff’s deputy and fleeing the correction facility where he was housed. He was released on parole in April 2021 but committed a violation “for not checking in just once,” Ms Swiger said.
“And that’s why he promised his mom after the funeral he would turn himself in,” she told the AP.
Meanwhile, the family is said to have been left traumatised.
Just seconds before he was fatally shot, Mr Owens had been hugging his aunt. His 18-year-old son, who was also present at the funeral, was left covered in Mr Owen’s blood.
And when mourners approached Mr Owen’s body, officers allegedly told them, “You step back or I’ll shoot you,” Ms Swiger claimed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
