“You know, every time you’re fighting for your son, you realize he’s never gonna come back,” Shawn Williams said. “He’s… he’s gone. His kids will never see him. His kids will never know who their father was… how he was… or what a kind-hearted person he is.”
Shawn Williams has been on a quest for justice since his son, 27-year-old Antonio Williams, was killed by NYPD officers on September 29th, 2019.
According to the Bronx District Attorney’s office, Antonio stood on the sidewalk outside of Edenwald Housing Complex when a group of plain-clothed police officers in an unmarked vehicle pulled up, identified themselves as police, and attempted to approach. Antonio immediately began to flee.
Police body cam footage showed New York Police Officer Robert Wichers pursuing Antonio, eventually tackling him to the ground. As Antonio was brought down, a firearm fell from his waistband.
Officer Wichers screamed in a panicked voice “He’s reaching for it! He’s reaching for it!”
There was a struggle, during which Officer Wichers began striking Antonio in the body and head in an attempt to stop him from reaching for the firearm.
Antonio was on his hands and knees, facing away from Officer Mulkeen when the NYPD officer fired his first round of bullets into Antonio from close range.
Antonio’s body fell back onto Mulkeen after the first shot, but Mulkeen would discharge his weapon four more times. Other responding officers, some of whom were standing 60 to 70 feet away, would respond with a flurry of gunfire, resulting in 15 rounds fired in 8 seconds from the officers.
The violent episode not only caused the death of Antonio, but in the hail of bullets officer Mulkeen was killed by friendly fire.
Antonio’s father, Shawn Williams has been calling for justice since his son’s death in 2019, because none of the officers involved in his son’s death have faced consequences.
“These officers are still on the street,” he said. “They’re still getting money. One is retired and getting his pension”
Antonio Williams had a non-violent criminal record.
“Regardless of what you did in your past, it shouldn’t affect what they did to you,” Shawn Williams said.
On the night that Antonio was killed, he was illegally carrying a loaded firearm. Solomon Acevedo, The Deputy Public Advocate for Justice, Health & Safety at the Office of NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, says that every person who carries a gun does not intend to incite violence.
“Guns and carrying guns really comes from people feeling unsafe and not trusting in their governmental structures to support them,” he said.
One aspect of this case under dispute is whether or not the NYPD officers who approached Antonio that night announced that they were cops.
“I don’t believe the police even announced that they were cops,” Shawn Williams said. “I think they jumped out the car and ran. From the video that everybody saw, they just jumped out the car. I didn’t see them, even when the sound came on, on their body cams, I didn’t hear them saying, ‘we’re police, police, stop.’”
Patrick Hendry, the President of the Police Benevolent Association, says that his organization stands by the actions of each NYPD officer there that night, stating:
“Police Officer Brian Mulkeen and his colleagues did exactly what this city asked of them: they went out to get illegal guns off our streets. Antonio Williams was carrying one of those illegal guns, and his actions caused P.O. Mulkeen’s death. What happened that night was undeniably a tragedy, but no amount of second-guessing of the police officers involved will change those basic facts.”
In January of 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced a new blueprint to end gun violence in New York City, stating that the NYPD will make new efforts to strengthen and reinforce its department.
“In doing this, we will avoid mistakes of the past,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “These officers will be identifiable as NYPD, they will have body cameras, and they will have enhanced training and oversight.”
The Williams family and other families who lost loved ones to gun violence by the NYPD have asked Mayor Adams to address this ongoing issue, but the former NYPD captain has not responded to, or acknowledged their requests.
“He needs to prove a lot to the families who backed him and voted for him to get in the office,” Shawn Williams said. “He needs to do something about these cops just out here in the street murdering innocent people, civilians just because they can. Just because they run in the streets acting like cowboys.”
Acevedo says the media ignored covering the death of Antonio Williams because he was not the “perfect” victim.
“People who may have some criminal history, or some evidence of potentially being dangerous gets overemphasized, as opposed to the officer that killed another officer,” Acevedo said.
Shawn Williams is not giving up his fight, and is suing the NYPD officers involved in his son’s fatal shooting that night for wrongful death.
“The point is not to go away and to be a thorn in their side, always there,” he said. “I’m not giving up. My son means more to me than you’ll ever imagine.”
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