Family of Roger Heard, Jr. still looking for answers

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Attorneys representing the family of Roger Heard Jr. held a press conference at city hall to address the media and to raise their concerns. 

Despite Tower footage provided by District Attorney Wamp, they are searching for additional footage and audio from the night of August 11.

Lawyers representing the family posed their concerns toward the fatal officer-involved shooting.

Heard’s mother Gloria Lewis wants accountability for the death of her son.

“What they took from me, they can’t give it back. Can’t give it back,” Lewis said.

According to attorney McCracken Poston, they want to know why plainclothes officers in an unmarked car charged Heard at a crowded gas station. 

“Most of the bullets emptied into Mr. Heard’s body was when he was flat on his back, his gun several feet away. It shows that innocent bystanders from this community were needlessly put in harms way by the Chattanooga Police Department,” Poston said.

Attorney Jonathan Grunberg states that this was ‘unnecessary’, and the warrant could have been served somewhere else. 

“It is a miracle that there is only one person who was dead at the end of that confrontation, and not a slew of people… including innocent members of this community,” Grunberg said.

On the shooting on August 11, none of the police officers were required to have bodycams on their person, according to District Attorney Wamp’s statement.

For this reason, attorneys and family members are requesting additional footage besides just the tower footage that was provided.

“We’re lawyers, but we’re also people with common sense. Common sense tells us that that was an inherently dangerous situation that didn’t need to happen. There were so many innocent bystanders there. There was a fleet of police cars that ended up coming there, several of them unmarked,” Grunberg said.

Attorney Mark Begnaud stated that firing at Heard after he was already on the ground and unarmed was unconstitutional– in regard to the Fourth Amendment. 

With this in mind, the attorneys and family are seeking further independent investigation of the incident and for additional footage.

“We want to see all the facts. And ultimately, we want accountability. If that accountability needs to happen in a courtroom, we’re prepared to have that accountability in a courtroom,” Grunberg said.