Police Brutality / Individual record
Brandon Jones
Brandon Jones, 18, was shot and killed by Cleveland police officer Alan Buford on March 19, 2015; an officer was later charged but acquitted.
- Record ID
- PB-129
- Incident date
- March 19, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Cleveland, OH
- Agency
- Cleveland Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 18
What happened
Early on March 19, 2015, Cleveland police responded to a report of a burglary at a grocery store. Officers confronted Brandon Jones, an 18-year-old, outside the store. Officer Alan Buford shot Jones after reporting that the teenager moved toward or reached into his waistband. Jones was unarmed. The death prompted intense scrutiny because another Cleveland officer had recently killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice and the department was under federal investigation for broader use-of-force patterns. Jones's family demanded answers, while the Cuyahoga County prosecutor later pursued a misdemeanor charge against Buford. The officer's acquittal did not change that an unarmed young person was killed during an encounter about an alleged property offense. Reporting has examined the differing descriptions of Jones's movements and the officer's decision to fire.
Investigation & findings
Buford was charged with misdemeanor negligent homicide and acquitted at trial in 2017. A criminal acquittal is not a ruling that Jones was armed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 229
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- unarmed
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 55
Last reviewed: October 25, 2026
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset