NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – Markquette Martin’s family says she is angry at the lack of information about her son’s death.
Martin died Wednesday fleeing officers. Police say he shot himself in what is described as a “probably unintentional” shot.
Read more: Police: A man dies of “probably accidental” self-inflicted gunfire while fleeing from officers
“I feel like any other parent who loses a child. It’s like it broke my heart, “said Markquette Gray, Martin’s father.
Gray was a few feet from where Martin died when he spoke Thursday with NewsChannel 5 about the incident. He has heard the Metro Nashville police report on the incident, but compared to what his neighbors have told him over the past few hours, he says he has no clear answers.
Police say a neighbor pointed to two officers to report a man in a blue “bubble” coat and a hat had a gun and shouldn’t have one. Officers say they found a person who fit the description, but when asked to speak, he ran. The man was later identified as Martin.
Officials said Martin was shot while fleeing from officers, which they believe was “probably unintentional.” MNPD spokesman Don Aaron said: “Maybe he had his finger on the protection of the trigger and, in the current movements, the weapon was unloaded.”
Gray said his son was not suicidal and therefore could not have turned the gun on him.
Metro police officials released the incident surveillance video from the MDHA video system, but that video stops all the time. On the video, police said “the MDHA video system does not record continuously. The ‘blocks’ of the video come from the system itself.”
Read more: Research continues on deadly shots south of Nashville
Gray has seen videos shared on social media and he and his family believe someone knows exactly what happened.
“I am from here, born and raised. Very loyal to many people here; so I know for sure they will come, ”Gray said.
Metro police say they found a worn carcass at the scene and early indications are that it came from a gun Martin was carrying. According to police officials, preliminary autopsy information shows that Martin died of a single gunshot wound that went in from the right side of his head and out from the left side, but the form of death (suicide or accidental) is still being investigated. MNPD is also running the ballistics on the bullet and the carcass lying on the ground.
Martin’s mother, Lenieshia Woods, says it’s just an attempt to cover up what happened to her son and she won’t defend it.
“I don’t want to keep seeing things slipping under the rug like everyone else out there. I want what happened to my son to be noticed and for everyone to know that it’s not okay, ”Woods said.
Woods says he asks neighbors to present any video or image of their own at the family church of Saint Luke Primitive Baptist in Nashville.
The video or images can be sent to the following email:
Primitive Baptist Church of St. Luke
Pastor Nicholas Patterson: [email protected]