An Off-Camera Police Shooting, A Trial And The Questions Left Behind

By Tom Dreisbach,

Kelly McEvers

Published March 9, 2017 at 4:25 PM EST

Flowers and balloons, along with spray-painted police markings, show the spot where Jonathan Ferrell was shot and killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police in 2013. Officer Randall Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter and investigators said Ferrell, who was unarmed, was shot 10 times.

In 2013, Charlotte, N.C., police officer Randall Kerrick shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell, a black man who was unarmed.

Video from a police car captured part of the encounter, but the shooting took place off-camera. Kerrick was subsequently charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting Ferrell, and the trial unfolded in 2015. A key piece of evidence was the video. But the way you see that video depends on who you are.

On this episode of Embedded ,we travel to Charlotte for the stories behind the night of the shooting, the trial, and the aftermath.

Tom Dreisbach

Tom Dreisbach is a correspondent on NPR's Investigations team focusing on breaking news stories.

See stories by Tom Dreisbach

Kelly McEvers

Kelly McEvers is a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist and former host of NPR's flagship newsmagazine, All Things Considered. She spent much of her career as an international correspondent, reporting from Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. She is the creator and host of the acclaimed Embedded podcast, a documentary show that goes to hard places to make sense of the news. She began her career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago.

See stories by Kelly McEvers