Video shows Charlotte police officer kill suspect following orders to drop gun

A dead man tells no tales, but Danquirs Franklin was able to tell the world what happened right before he was gunned down by a Charlotte police officer.

“You told me to put it on the ground.…” were the last words uttered by Franklin, who is black, as he was gunned down March 25 by a white police officer outside of a Charlotte-area Burger King.

Footage of the last moments of the 27-year-old North Carolina man was released this week by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The body cam footage of Officer Wende Kerl, who fired the fatal shots, appears to show Franklin attempting to follow her orders to drop a gun he had in his pocket.

Police officials said dispatchers received two 911 calls around 9 a.m. the morning of the shooting from the restaurant stating a man was brandishing a weapon at the restaurant.

The first caller said the man walked behind the counter and pointed a gun at an employee. The next caller said someone approached her vehicle and pulled out a gun while she was waiting for her food in the parking lot.

Kerl responded to the scene with Officer Larry Deal, where they found Franklin squatting next to a sedan.

Police officials said, “A short time later, Officer Kerl perceived an imminent, deadly threat and subsequently fired her department issued firearm two times, striking Mr. Franklin.”

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney has refused to offer an opinion about the shooting and the video, according to the Charlotte Observer newspaper. He said wants to protect the integrity of the police investigation.

But he said watching the video is painful.

“(It’s) like a punch to the gut,” Putney told the Observer. “It’s hard to watch. It’s hard to see because a life has been lost.”

**WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS DISTURBING CONTENT**

Kerl’s body camera shows Franklin never pointed the firearm toward her or anyone else during his final moments.

Leading up to the shooting, Kerl, along with Deal, arrived on the scene and immediately ordered Franklin to show his hands.

He did not.

Kerl crosses in front of her partner and approached the vehicle.

“Put the gun down now!” the officers yelled.

“He’s got a gun. He’s got a gun,” Kerl said.

Next they tell a female employee to back away from the car.

“I heard you the first (unclear) time,” Franklin said.

The gun has yet to be seen on the video.

“Put it on the ground,” Kerl says a final time.

Franklin appears to slowly reach into his pocket and grabbing the gun by the barrel and motioning toward the ground. Kerl fires two shots into Franklin, according to multiple news accounts.

Gun on the ground, the wounded Franklin turns to Kerl and says, “You told me to put it on the ground. … I put it on the….”

He then collapses against the vehicle.

The officers are still yelling “Drop it” after the gun is on the ground.

“Shots fired,” Kerl says.