According to a report by Eric Branch of sfgate.com, the first cousin of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin was the victim of a police fatal shooting early on Sunday morning.
Corey Jones, 31, was fatally shot by a plainclothes Palm Beach Gardens officer by the name of Nauman Raja after he approached Jones’ broken down SUV to investigate why it it was pulled off to the side of the freeway.
Jones, who was a church drummer and housing inspector, was in possession of a gun he had bought three days earlier, according to a report by the New York Times. Jones’ gun was never fired, although he was shot three times by Raja. According to Jones’ family attorneys, Raja never showed his badge and fired the gun a total of six times.
Per Jones’ family, they said that he had a concealed weapons permit for his handgun and purchased it for protection to have while traveling with expensive band equipment and money to and from concerts. Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing Jones’ family, reported that the officer was driving an unmarked van with dark windows and no police lights.
“How (would) Corey know that this was a police officer?” Crump asked via tampabay.com. “He didn’t know if he’s about to be robbed . . . if he’s about to be killed.”
According to attorney, Jones was shot once in the arm, and in the side with one of the bullets lodging its way into his chest.
Jones was from Lake Worth Florida, which is approximately 45 miles from Boldin’s home town in Pahokee.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his grieving family.