Friend of Kamal Flowers gives account of night he was fatally shot by New Rochelle officer

The friend of a man who was fatally shot by New Rochelle police is giving his firsthand account of the incident.

News 12 Staff

Jul 16, 2020, 12:16 AM

Updated 1,543 days ago

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The friend of a man who was fatally shot by New Rochelle police is giving his firsthand account of the incident.
Isa Muhammad says he was driving Kamal Flowers to a family member's house the night of June 5.
Muhammad says they were tailed by police for over a mile and then pulled over for what police say were traffic violations.
"I didn't do anything driving. I have the CDL truck driving license. I'm a very good driver," he says. "I was pulled over because I was Black."
Flowers, 24, had just been released from jail. He is seen running away in surveillance video before police chased him and Muhammad drove off.
Muhammad alleges he heard an officer saying racial slurs.
"I heard him say catch that n**** because he couldn't catch him...Kamal had a lead on him," he said.
Police say Flowers then displayed a gun when Officer Alec McKenna tried to use a Taser on him. The officer then fired the fatal shot.
According to police, a gun was found at the scene close to where Flowers was lying.
Muhammad has a different account.
"From my understanding, none of this makes sense to me," he says. "I know nothing of him having a weapon."
Flowers' death ignited controversy and calls for reform in the New Rochelle community.
The city's Police Benevolent Association is standing by both officers, who are now on administrative leave.
"I have absolute faith that they acted appropriately and had they not acted appropriately, Officer McKenna would probably be dead today," says Detective Chris Greco, of the New Rochelle PBA.
He says he believes Muhammad's allegations are false.
"To my understanding the New Rochelle Police Department receives about 20 to 25 civilian complaints every year, and I don't believe that very many are in line with the allegations that are being made by Mr. Muhammad," he said.
Many local officials have requested that Gov. Andrew Cuomo appoint Attorney General Letitia James to take over the investigation, but as News 12 has reported, James says she is not investigating "due to the fact that Flowers was armed with a handgun during the incident."