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Fort Worth police were involved in four shootings — two fatal — in the first eight days of June

Community activists are demanding police release body-camera footage of the latest fatal police shooting.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Updated at 7:09 p.m. with updated information from police, witnesses and activists.

Community activists are demanding answers about four officer-involved shootings in the first eight days of June.

They will attend Tuesday’s Fort Worth City Council Meeting to press for the release of video from the body cameras worn by the police officers who shot and killed 20-year old Jaquavion Slaton on Sunday in Stop Six.

Fort Worth city councilwoman Gyna Bivens posted on Facebook that she agrees the video needs to be made public.

“Transparency is the friend of truth and the key to moving forward when trouble and division are present,” Bivens said. “No matter what the video reveals, it is important that it be released as soon as possible. It is also important to think about how all of us respond no matter what the video conveys.”

Fort Worth police did not respond when asked whether they have determined if or when the video would be released.

Police said Slaton was wanted for an alleged aggravated assault which occurred in an apartment on the campus of The University of Texas at Tyler.

Credit: Family Photo
Jaquavion Slaton was wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon when Fort Worth police shot and killed him.

RELATED: 1 dead in Fort Worth police shooting, police say

A spokesperson for UT Tyler said an apartment resident reported the assault on April 28. When officers arrived, they say Slaton ran from them.

They knew he had ties to Fort Worth, the spokesperson said, so police from the two departments communicated.

Fort Worth police said they were looking for Slaton on Sunday afternoon in the city’s Stop Six neighborhood. 

When they pulled over a car he was riding in, they say Slaton ran and hid in an unlocked pickup truck parked behind a home on East Berry.

Police said they saw Slaton holding a gun as he was running away.

"As officers attempted to break the glass of the vehicle to gain a better view of the suspect, the suspect made an overt action placing the officers in fear for their lives," a late Monday night statement from the police said.

Neighbors watched as police surrounded the truck and broke out a window. 

“The officers approached the truck and was looking in the truck,” a witness said. “The windows on the truck are tinted. They was looking as if the boy was hiding down on the dashboard. They were peering down and had the guns pointed toward the bottom of the truck.”

Within seconds, multiple shots were fired. Police say officers tried to revive Slaton, but he died on the scene.

Officials said it wasn’t clear how many officers fired their weapons. They say Slaton had a gun, but they did not say whether he fired it, aimed it at officers or threatened them with it. 

“The community is saying there was no gun drawn by the kid,” said community activist Corey Hughes. “Of course, there’s always another side to the story. Cops will always say he had a gun. Eyewitnesses says in the even there was a gun, he never pulled a gun.” 

“We’re not going to stop until we get answers,” he said. 

Slaton had a four-month-old child, according to pastor Kyev Tatum of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church. 

Tatum plans to host a prayer vigil for Slaton at 6 p.m. at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, 2864 Mississippi Ave.

Bivens said she was hoping to schedule a community meeting in the coming days.

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