Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit gives update in the police officer involved shooting death

By Melanie LeCroy
Lifestyle Editor
melanie@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 8/22/22

BAY MINETTE – Sheriff’s Office officials say they don’t know yet why a traffic stop escalated, resulting in a suspect’s death.

Lieutenant Andre Reid Jr. with the Baldwin …

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Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit gives update in the police officer involved shooting death

Posted

BAY MINETTE – Sheriff’s Office officials say they don’t know yet why a traffic stop escalated, resulting in a suspect’s death.

Lieutenant Andre Reid Jr. with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and part of the Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit said during a press conference Monday that the officer’s bodycam did capture the incident.

He said the footage does not fully explain what happened.

“I don’t know. I have watched the video a couple of times, the bodycam video. I wish I could tell you. That is one of the things we like to know. I said the other day, we can get some facts from bodycam footage but we can’t rely on that only. There is so much more to the story. We want a background story. We want to know-how did he even end up on the street, was he going somewhere, was he going to meet someone, was he upset about something else? I just don’t know those things just yet. We need to know that to complete our investigation and be thorough.”

On Saturday at about 10:25 a.m., an officer stopped a car driven by Otis French Jr. on Lower Street. The officer asked French to step out of the vehicle so he could show him an equipment violation, the statement said.

French got out of the vehicle but did not follow the officer’s instructions. The statement said French began fighting with the officer and the officer was pushed to the ground. French ran away, but the officer caught him and tried to use a Taser on the suspect. The Taser was not effective and the two started fighting again and fell to the ground again, the statement said.

French wrestled the Taser away from the officer and used the device on the officer. The officer shot French who was taken to the hospital where he died.

The officer, who has not been named, was treated for minor injuries and released. He has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

According to the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office’s online database, records indicate that Otis French, Jr. was arrested two times in 2014 and two times 2016. The charges included three counts of attempt to elude, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

French’s autopsy is set to take place sometime today, Aug. 22 but the lab results will take some time. Reid said the lab results are important in determining what is going on in a person’s system but could take months.

The Bay Minette Police Department requested that the Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit investigate the shooting. Officers worked in the Douglasville community for several hours Saturday investigating the case.

Investigators canvased the area, spoke to witnesses, and gathered any video of the incident they are aware of, but Reid said that anyone with information should contact the Major Crimes Unit.

“We are here to collect all the facts and the details of the case but at the end of the day, just like every other investigation, this isn’t different because there was a police officer involved. It may be different in that everyone is watching and everyone wants to know. we certainly want our public officials to be doing everything right and we will dig as much as we can, as deep as we can just like we do on every death investigation that we work,” Reid said.

“We are able to dedicate several investigators to this and that is all they are doing. It is very important to us and our reputation is always on the line so we are going to do a really good job here,” Reid said.

Reid asked the public to respect the French family who is grieving the loss of their loved one.

“We need to respect them and their space,” Reid said. “They lost a life, no matter the circumstances, they lost their son, they lost a family member.”