Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. was shot in his right arm by a White Plains police officer on Nov. 19, according to an autopsy report pubished by The Journal News Tuesday, leading an attorney representing the Chamberlain family to question the department's explanation of the events leading up to the man's shooting.
Randolph McLaughlin, the attorney representing the Chamberlain family, told the newspaper that Chamberlain could not have been attempting to stab a responding officer as police have reported when he was shot to death in his apartment last fall.
The report "contradicts the police version all together," Randolph McLaughlin, the attorney, told the newspaper today. "It shows that he was a threat to no one. There’s no excuse for what happened."
Police recently fatally shot the 68-year-old Chamberlain Sr. on Nov. 19 in Chamberlain's 135 S. Lexington Ave. apartment, after pressure from the Chamberlain family, while responding to a medical call. Police say Chamberlain acted violently toward officers, threatening them with a knife and hatchet. Police said Chamberlain was about to stab an officer at the scene when he was shot.
The autopsy published Tuesday says the bullet entered Chamberlain's right arm 4 1/2 inches beneath his right shoulder before passing through and entering his chest at the third and fourth ribs.
The bullet then hit both of Chamberlains lungs, the autopsy said. He was pronounced dead two hours later at White Plains Hospital.
McLaughlin told the Journal News that the autopsy report shows that “the path of the bullet through Mr. Chamberlain’s arm and into his lungs tells me that his arm had to be by his side and not raised in a motion consistent with trying to stab someone.”
Chamberlain’s family said the medical device accidently went off and that even though Chamberlain said he was fine, police still stood our his door for an hour taunting him before knocking down his door. Police said that Chamberlain was screaming, emotionally disturbed and that he charged at police with a hatchet and a knife. Chamberlain's family said Chamberlain, who has a heart condition, was unarmed and standing in his boxers shorts when police charged through his door and killed him.
Police Tasered and shot Chamberlain with a beanbag gun before he was fatally shot. Police also reported that even as they tried to subdue him, he attempted to cut his own throat with the knife.
Click for the original story on the shooting and here for our full coverage of the incident.
