A pair of Washington lawyers called the Sept. 18 fatal police shooting of a 24-year-old unarmed Upper Marlboro man in District Heights murder, and said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that they are investigating the incident.
“Gregory Boggs Jr. was murdered by a Prince George’s police officer,” attorney Ted Williams said.
Williams’ law partner, Gregory Lattimer, said the police department’s public description of events was “factually inaccurate” and called the actions of first-year Officer Jordan Swonger outrageous.
“Prince George’s County has again tried to justify the murder of a black man,” said Lattimer who, like Williams, is black.
A spokeswoman with the department on Wednesday said the incident still was under investigation.
“It is unfortunate when an officer has to make a judgmental decision to fire his or her weapon,” Cpl. Richardson told The Examiner. ” … We want the family, the community and police officers to know that the department has sound policies and procedures for investigation and review of police-related shootings. This is an active investigation which will be reviewed independently by the state’s attorneys office.”
A Sept. 19 news release from county police said Swonger, who is white, shot Boggs after the man used his girlfriend as a human shield and reached behind his back rather than show his hands.
Lanaya Borden, Boggs’ girlfriend, said at Wednesday’s news conference that she and Boggs, who went by the nickname Nukk, were standing close together on a corner in the 1900 block of Rochelle Avenue. Borden did not see the police cruiser approach but she did hear the car door close after Swonger got out. Police said Swonger was responding to an assault in progress but Borden said a previous dispute between her and Boggs was over before he arrived. No more than 10 seconds passed between when Swonger got out of his cruiser to when the officer told Boggs to put his hands up and a single shot was fired into Boggs, Borden said.
“When he fell,” Borden said, “he fell against me. It’s just so surreal.”
Borden, 19, who lives in Upper Marlboro, also disputed the police version of where she was when the officer arrived. Police said Borden was lying on the ground when the officer arrived and was then grabbed by Boggs as a human shield before being thrown to the ground. Borden said Boggs was not an abusive man.
“At no time did he attempt to use me as a human shield,” Borden said. “At no time did Nukk do anything to provoke the shooting and he was not armed.”
Both Lattimer and Williams questioned the training county police receive, criticizing officers who approach situations with deadly force as a first instinct.
“I don’t think any of the Prince George’s County officers are trained sufficiently,” Lattimer said. “There is no basis for the use of lethal force.”
