The police said the man, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21, was likely not the gunman who shot at least one person. His death drew criticism from his family and protesters on Saturday.<\/b>
\nAn Alabama police officer fatally shot a 21-year-old black man on Thursday night who the police initially said shot at least one person at a mall near Birmingham, turning a Thanksgiving holiday shopping scene into chaos.
But on Friday the police said evidence suggests that the man actually was not the gunman and that the true gunman remained at large.
The Hoover Police Department said on Twitter that the man who was killed, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., \u201cmay have been involved in some aspect\u201d of an altercation at the mall, the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Ala., that preceded the shooting.
But, they said, he \u201clikely did not fire the rounds\u201d that struck an 18-year-old man as they had originally indicated. Another victim, a 12-year-old girl, was an \u201cinnocent bystander,\u201d the police said. Both were hospitalized but their conditions on Saturday were unavailable.
\u201cWe regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not,\u201d the police said, adding that the conclusion was based on interviews with witnesses and \u201ccritical evidentiary items.\u201d
[A lawyer for Mr. Bradford\u2019s family described him as a \u201cgood guy with a gun.\u201d]
In their initial statement on Friday, the police said uniformed officers who were providing security at the mall \u201cencountered a suspect brandishing a pistol and shot him.\u201d It was not clear whether the officers believed Mr. Bradford fired or intended to fire before he was killed.
Mr. Bradford\u2019s mother, April Pipkins, said in an interview on Saturday that Mr. Bradford was living with her near Birmingham where he had been raised. Mr. Bradford, who was better known as E. J., would not have been involved in the shooting, and might have been trying to protect other people in the mall, she said.
\u201cThat was not his character at all,\u201d she said. \u201cHe loved life, and he loved people.\u201d
He was licensed to carry a firearm, she said. Alabama generally does not prohibit people from carrying firearms in public, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
At an emotional news conference held by Mr. Bradford\u2019s relatives on Sunday \u2014 one collapsed in tears partway through \u2014 his family members said they were not notified of his death by the Hoover Police Department, but instead learned of it through social media.
Mr. Bradford\u2019s father, Emantic Bradford Sr., said that he called the police Thursday night upon hearing of his son\u2019s shooting, and that he was told he would get a call back in 10 minutes. But he never did, he said, and it was several hours before he called again and was able to talk to someone from the Jefferson County Sheriff\u2019s Office at the scene.
\u201cIt hurts me to the core, my son is gone,\u201d the elder Mr. Bradford said at the news conference.
Anthony Thomas, Mr. Bradford\u2019s uncle, said he wanted the police to release all the videos from the mall that day.
\u201cHe was an honorable young man who was assassinated,\u201d Mr. Thomas said.
Ms. Pipkins is being represented by Benjamin L. Crump, a Tallahassee, Fla., lawyer, who has in the past represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.
Mr. Crump said the Hoover police had tarnished Mr. Bradford\u2019s character by \u201cjumping to conclusions\u201d that he was a criminal because he was a black man with a gun.
\u201cHe was trying to be somebody who helped save people, yet he was killed,\u201d Mr. Crump said.
Mr. Bradford received a general discharge from the United States Army in August. An Army spokesman said Mr. Bradford had not completed his training but would not elaborate.
Capt. Gregg Rector, a spokesman for the Hoover Police Department, said on Saturday that it would be inappropriate to answer questions about the circumstances around Mr. Bradford\u2019s death because the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was leading the investigation.
The Hoover Police Department is, however, conducting an internal investigation into Mr. Bradford\u2019s killing by the officer. That officer, who has not been identified, has been put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete. Captain Rector did not answer other questions about the officer on Saturday.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency declined to comment on Saturday and said that it would issue a statement on Sunday.
On Saturday, a group of protesters gathered at the mall, saying the police shot the wrong person. One carried a sign that said \u201cEmantic\u2019s Life Matters.\u201d Others carried a large blue banner reading \u201cNo police gun violence.\u201d
The episode on Thursday sent crowds of people running through the Riverchase Galleria, about 10 miles south of Birmingham, according to videos posted on Twitter .
One shopper told the television station WBRC that she was buying jewelry at a kiosk when she heard three bangs and people started screaming and running for the exits as officers ran toward the gunfire.
The police said they now believe that more than two people were involved in the altercation that preceded the shooting and that at least one gunman remains at large. The police did not release a description of the person they were seeking.
The mall, whose website boasts that it is \u201cthe largest enclosed shopping center in Alabama,\u201d had advertised special hours for the night of Thanksgiving: 6 p.m. to midnight. The Brookfield Properties Retail Group, which owns the mall, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.<\/p>\n