Oakland police have said nothing at all about the weekend shooting beyond a press release they issued on Monday. They have not addressed the new information that the man was seriously injured after being shot in the back.
Tuesday night, Bertrina Works-Grant emerged from Highland Hospital in Oakland after waiting all day to see her son. She says he was shot in the lower back after running from Oakland police late Sunday night.
"I talked to my son. My son said 'Momma, the officers [are] lying. They watched me get out of the car. They watched me walk. They started speeding up and I took off running across the street and when I took off running and I heard the gun go pow, pow, pow,'" said Works-Grant. "He said he was running with his hands like this [at his sides]. The police shot at him and shot him in his back. They never said they [were] the police."
Her son is 24-year-old Tony Jones. She says he is a cousin of Grant.
Sunday evening shortly before midnight, Oakland police stopped a car on the 2000 block of 62nd Avenue. Police say they suspected the vehicle might be linked to a robbery that had just occurred in the area. While police have not identified Jones by name, they say a passenger with a gun ran from the vehicle and was shot by an officer. Jones's mother and attorney deny he had a gun.
"Tony said he did not have no gun. He got out the vehicle. Some lady, he paid the lady $10, to give him a ride to wherever he got shot at," said Works-Grant.
For several hours, attorney Waukeen McCoy says he was denied the right to meet with his client at the hospital, going so far as to take a picture of the Oakland officer he says refused entry after Jones requested to see his attorney.
"We believe what happened is that the Oakland Police Department is hiding the fact that they shot him in his back while he was retreating from them," said McCoy.
Jones's mother says her son was on probation, but wouldn't say for what.
"He's a nice guy. He just been home a month and a couple of days from the penitentiary. He was locked up for 10 years. He has done nothing. He was at the house playing with his nephew, my grandson, Little Oscar," said Works-Grant.
So far Jones has not been charged, according to his attorney. Police claim they found a weapon at the scene. We tried repeatedly to get further comment from Oakland police, but we've not heard back. The attorney was finally able to see his client, but is planning civil action against the police department.
