Police aggression is accountable again in the city of Seneca, South Carolina where an unarmed 19-year-old male was shot and killed.
Citizens and family are mourning their great loss. An ongoing debate started again about police aggression and where it should end. Police reports show that Zachary Hammond, the driver of a stopped vehicle was pronounced dead on the 26th of July during an altercation in a Hardee’s parking lot. The police officer, Lt. Mark Tiller, currently under investigation, shot the teenager in what began as an arrest for drug-related charges regarding Zachary’s passenger.
The family of the deceased are claiming Zachary was shot in the back while officer Tiller’s testimony claims the incident happened as an act of self-defense. Further investigation continues, but Lt. Mark Tiller claims he was the victim of an attempted car assault, shooting the victim in response.
Due to the massive amount of news requests and releases, the city of Seneca hired a local public relations firm to deal with the overwhelming volume of requests. Complete Public Relations, a Greenville PR agency represents the City and is managing the overload. This overload is both a burden to city officials and the labor infrastructure employed by the same district. The flood of attention cannot be accommodated on a usual basis, and every civil service organization has been bombarded in big media’s attempt to get an angle for the story.
Calls from all around the world regarding news leads reached the city attorney’s office, elected officials, and the police department. The death of American citizens by law enforcement officers always stirs controversy, causing every news outlet to request the best intel to tell their readers, subscribers, and followers.
But publicity is not the only problem from the shooting of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond. A Federal probe along with the State Law Enforcement Division investigation are underway as America sheds more light on the potential causes and mitigations for possible police brutality.