California Rapper Shot Dead By Six Police Officers At Taco Bell Drive-Thru

Source: Instagram

The officers claim that the rapper had a handgun on him when they arrived at the scene.

A 20-year-old rapper was fatally shot by six police officers in Vallejo, California.

Police fired multiple rounds at Willie McCoy, who was sleeping in his car while in the drive-thru of a Taco Bell, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The incident took place Saturday night when the Vallejo Police Department received a call from a Taco Bell employee saying that McCoy was "hunched over" behind the wheel of a silver Mercedes-Benz.

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When police arrived they found that the car's transmission was in drive and the doors locked, with McCoy unresponsive and a handgun in his lap.

As the officers tried to stop the car from moving forward McCoy abuptly moved. Police ordered him to keep his hands visible but claim he reached for his gun, resulting in the officers shooting him.

"The driver began to suddenly move and looked at the uniformed patrol officers," police said in a statement. "Officers gave the driver several commands to put his hands up. The driver did not comply and instead moved his hands downward toward the firearm."

McCoy died on the scene. Although officers didn't confirm McCoy's identity, family members speaking with the Los Angeles Times confirmed that it was McCoy who was shot.

"Willie was a goodhearted kid," David Harrison, McCoy's cousin, said. "He loved children. He was ambitious. There was no such things as friends for him. His friends were family."

McCoy's family disagrees with the police's account and said that his death is another example of black men dying as a result of police brutality. McCoy was an aspiring rapper who went by the name Willie Bo.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle