April 26, 2021- 9:52 a.m.
The Omaha Police department released body camera of an officer involved in a fatal shooting that occurred on November 19, 2020, at 7:27​ p.m., Uniformed Omaha Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at 27th and Harrison Street.
As the officers were getting out of their marked patrol car, their Body Worn Cameras (BWC) captured the officers yelling “stop reaching!” The backseat passenger, later identified as Kenneth JONES, 30, can be seen moving around as the officers walked towards the car.
The officers yelled, “everybody, hands up” as they walked to the vehicle. There were four individuals in the car, and everyone but JONES complied by putting their hands outside the car windows. The officers repeated three times for everyone to put their hands up.
The officer on the driver’s side tried to open JONES’ door several times while yelling at him to “open the door!” The officer used his flashlight to break out the car window to get the door opened. Once the door was opened, the officer yelled to JONES to “get out of the car!” The officer reached in to grab JONES, just as JONES turned and began moving towards the passenger side of the vehicle.
BWC shows JONES continued to pull away from the officers as they pull him from the vehicle. The cruiser camera shows the officers struggling to get JONES from the vehicle. Once JONES is out of the car, an officer is heard saying, “keep your hands where I can see them!” The officer then says, “Watch his right hand! He’s digging! He’s digging! He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!” The officer yelled “Gun! Gun! Gun!” Seconds later, four shots are fired.
JONES fell to the ground and continued moving as the officers yelled for him to “show his hands.” One of the officers contacted dispatch, telling them of the shots fired, and requested a squad to their location. The officers then begin performing CPR on JONES.
A loaded Springfield .45 caliber handgun, with a round in the chamber, was found on the ground, directly underneath JONES. A squad transported JONES to the University of Nebraska Medical Center Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The decedent has been identified as Kenneth JONES, B/M, dob 7/17/85. An autopsy later showed that Jones’ urine and blood tested positive for phencyclidine, or PCP, a hallucinogen. Update: November 21, 2020 Officer Dan FAULKNER is a 29-year old veteran who has been with the Omaha Police Department since 2016. Officer Richard MARTIER is a 31-year old veteran who has been with the Omaha Police Department since 2016.
On Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 7:27 p.m. Omaha Police Officer MARTIER, who was driving, and FAULKNER, the passenger officer, said they were traveling south on 27th Street by Strafford Square Apartments when they saw a Dodge Charger southbound on 27th Street, stopped in the middle of the road. The officers said the vehicle’s hazard lights were not on.
The officers said they watched as the vehicle would drive forward a couple of feet and stop, and then drive forward again. The officers said the car continued this action for half of a block, so officers turned on their overhead lights to initiate a traffic stop at the intersection of 27th and Harrison Streets. Both officers thought the driver might be impaired, but they did not know, so a traffic stop was conducted.
