Police Brutality / Individual record
Jonathan Ferrell
Unarmed Jonathan Ferrell, a former college football player, was shot by a Charlotte police officer while apparently seeking help after a car crash in September 2013.
- Record ID
- PB-065
- Date of death
- September 14, 2013
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
On September 14, 2013, Jonathan Ferrell survived a serious late-night car crash in Charlotte, North Carolina, and walked to a nearby home. The occupant called 911 after he knocked, fearing an intruder. Three Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers arrived. As Ferrell approached them, officer Randall Kerrick fired twelve shots, striking Ferrell ten times. Ferrell had no weapon. His family said he was seeking aid rather than threatening anyone and questioned why officers escalated the situation and why other officers did not fire. Ferrell's death became a prominent case in public debate about racialized perceptions of danger and police force.
Investigation & findings
The city agreed to a $2.25 million settlement with Ferrell's family. Kerrick was tried for voluntary manslaughter; proceedings ended in a mistrial, and prosecutors dismissed the charge in September 2015. No criminal conviction resulted.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source