Frankie Jennings

Frankie Jennings, a 32-year-old African American, was killed by a U.S. Marshal at gas station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The police had several arrest warrants for Jennings. While attempting to arrest, the officer said, Jennings began to threaten law enforcement, as a result of which he was shot.

A gun belonging to the victim was seized from the scene, but the police found refused to answer whether Jennings had pointed the pistol in the officer’s direction before the shots were fired. One of the eyewitnesses to the incident mentioned that he saw two men fighting, but from a distance he could not say for sure which of them was a police officer.

“Even if (the U.S. Marshal) had warrants or not, and I’m not saying he did, because I don’t know that,” Latanya Jennings said. “That still doesn’t give them the right to draw their guns on someone and kill him in broad daylight.”

An internal investigation is underway; the family of the deceased is demanding answers. Frankie was shot on his 32nd birthday. Jennings’ death sparked protests and rallies in Charlotte.

In June 2021, Mecklenburg County’s district attorney says he will not be pursuing charges against a deputy U.S. Marshal who shot and killed a man on his birthday at a Charlotte gas station in March 2021 due to the fact that officers faced an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death.