By PoliceOne Staff
OGDEN, Utah — An armed man shot 11 times in an officer-involved shooting in March is asking for police to change their tactics.
According to KSL, 28-year-old Jamal Bell was shot in his apartment while police were responding to a report of an argument. In video of the incident, when officers approach Bell’s front door, Bell can be seen walking towards them while armed with knives.
Officers demanded he drop the knives multiple times, but he refused.
Video shows police deploy a TASER, but the hooks are deflected as Bell starts to close the door.
Police shot Bell as he approached officers again. Fifteen shots can be heard in the video, with 11 of them hitting Bell, officials said.
Bell says he had the knives in his hands because he was cleaning his apartment and believes that police would have shot him whether he dropped them or not. He’s now asking for officers to train differently and to learn better de-escalation tactics.
“(There were) four officers, and they shot one TASER at me,” Bell said. “No matter what, if they felt threatened, they have three other times they could have used those TASERs,” Bell said during a recent protest outside a local attorney’s office. “Or, instead of right when they get there, pulling their guns on me? They need some kind of tactical training besides that.”
Bell was charged with four counts of assault against an officer but believes the charges will be dropped since he claims he was walking towards officers to surrender, not attack.