Family Says Heavily Redacted Report on 8-Year-Old’s Fatal Shooting by Police Is a ‘Slap in the Face’
‘SHAMEFUL’
Authorities in Pennsylvania on Friday released a 55-page report on their investigation into the fatal police shooting of an 8-year-old girl outside a high school football game last year, but the victim’s family has called it a “slap in the face.” Relatives of Fanta Bility expressed outrage over the report, which was so heavily redacted they said it’s basically pointless, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The parts of the report that aren’t redacted include information that’s already public, like a summary of events leading up to the tragic shooting, which struck four bystanders. “We’ve been so patient and transparent for nearly a year. There’s no point in giving this to my family. There’s nothing on here,” Fanta’s cousin, Saadiq Muhammad, was quoted saying. Fanta died in her mother’s arms after three officers opened fire at passengers in a car they mistakenly believed were shooting at them. The officers have been charged with manslaughter, among other charges. The Bility family’s attorney blasted the redacted report as “shameful and outrageous” in a statement, saying that “Sharon Hill Borough officials chose to hide from the public those portions detrimental to itself and the conduct of its officials in the training and supervision of its police department, speaks loudly to Sharon Hill’s knowledge of its own guilt in connection with Fanta’s death.”