Friend: 'He (police) shot him like he was a dog'

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Witnesses to the weekend police shooting of a Durant man said he had been maced before being fatally wounded in the yard of his home across from the Police Department.

Roderick Thomas, 23, a suspect in an aggravated assault, was shot once in the chest shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday.

Thomas was wanted in connection with an aggravated assault at a nightclub near West.

The shooting happened as police attempted to arrest Thomas, who witnesses say was unarmed. Several people said they saw what happened, including his mother, Cynthia Thomas, and best friend, Andrew Hunt.

After officers and Thomas exchanged words, they sprayed him in the face with mace, Hunt said. Thomas covered his face with his shirt and tried to go in his house.

One of the officers told him to freeze, so Thomas put his arms in the air and stepped backwards down the steps, according to witnesses.

Then they said an officer tackled him.

"By that time they got one cuff on him, and were basically slapping him around," Hunt said.

Cynthia Thomas said the other officer was preoccupied with a friend of Thomas,' who was begging police "not to do (Thomas) like that."

According to witnesses, Thomas ended up on his knees, and the officer shot him.

Cynthia Thomas said it looked like the officer and her son were getting up off the ground at the same time, and that's when her son was shot.

"He shot him like he was a dog and turned and walked away. Rod didn't even have a chance to get off the ground with one arm in the air. He couldn't even see," Hunt said. "All that wasn't even necessary. "

Cynthia Thomas said after the shooting, the officer left the yard.

"This really shocked me. I've never seen a person killed, much less my own son, and I don't know what to do now," she said. "I don't have anywhere else to go, and I've got to stay here and live here, with my son's blood still in the back yard."

Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Jon Kalahar said investigators don't think Thomas was handcuffed at the time he was shot, but that they want to speak to witnesses.

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http://www.clarionledger.com/article...m-like-he-dog-