Entertainment
Pharrell Williams’ cousin killed by police officer in Virginia Beach shootings
Pharrell Williams has identified his cousin as the person shot by police during the Virginia Beach shootings.
The musician shared a picture of his cousin Donovan Lynch on Instagram, after the 25-year-old was killed on March 26 in an officer-related shooting.
Two people including Mr Lynch and at least eight others were injured during three separate shootings near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Pharrell, 47, wrote: ‘The loss of these lives is a tragedy beyond measure. My cousin Donovon was killed during the shootings. He was a bright light and someone who always showed up for others.
‘It is critical my family and the other victims’ families get the transparency, honesty and justice they deserve.
‘Virginia Beach is the epitome of hope and tenacity and, as a community, we will get through this and come out even stronger.’
Friends including The Weeknd, Swizz Beatz and Jermaine Dupri commented with prayer hands emojis.
On Lynch’s Instagram page, he called himself a ‘digital creator’ and entrepreneur, and had been a student-athlete at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, playing on the school’s football team as an offensive lineman in 2017 and 2018.
Virginia Beach Police Department have said that Lynch was ‘brandishing a handgun at the time of the shooting’, following interviews with the officer involved, an officer who witness the incident and an independent witness.
Police chief Paul Neudigate said Lynch was killed during ‘a police intervention shooting’.
He said that the responding officers did not have their body cameras turned on.
The officer involved in the shooting that resulted in Lynch’s death has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which police called standard procedure.
The Virginia Beach NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) said it was ‘distressed’ following the shooting, and said in a statement: ‘We are not surprised of the revelation that the body camera of the officer involved in the death of Mr Lynch was not activated.
‘Disciplinary actions surrounding an officer misconduct should not be withheld from the public under the pretext. “It’s a personnel issue.” This has been the case in the past. Transparency of police disciplinary is required now.’
The organisation’s statement also said the VBPD ‘failed on all accounts’ in this incident, and said: ‘The $5.5m implementation investment on body-worn cameras is worthless when officers do not turn the camera on for recording. Mr Lynch is not here to tell his side!’
Jay Jones, a delegate from the Norfolk area in Virginia’s House of Delegates, also called for an investigation by the state’s attorney general into the shooting death, saying: ‘We need far better accountability and transparency, and the families of those killed by police, in Virginia Beach and across this country, deserve answers.’
In addition to Mr Lynch, Deshayla E Harris, 29, was killed in the Virginia Beach shootings.
Ms Harris was a bystander at the shooting, and Police Chief Neudigate said he believes Ms Harris was an ‘innocent victim that was probably struck by stray gunfire in some regards’.
Pharrell is originally from Virginia Beach, and organises the area’s Something In The Water festival, with another event being planned for 2022.
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