Aaron Rainey Obituary, Death; – A mother is speaking out on the police shooting that ended her son’s life as new video shows the moments leading up to him being taken into a police van after he walked into traffic on Thursday.
His mother identified him as Aaron Rainey and authorities said he was killed on March 20 after he grabbed an officer’s gun and fired at him. That officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. Officers were taking Rainey to the Friends Hospital in the Crescentville section of Northeast Philadelphia when they said he started having a mental health episode just before the encounter.
“My son is going to be truly missed. He’s going to be truly missed,” Rainey’s mother Tonya Kersey told NBC10. Kersey described her oldest son as a protector, a good father and someone who helped others.
She explained that Rainey had been dealing with mental health struggles for several years and it got worse recently, but she never expected to lose him this way.
“He was a good guy. He did not deserve to be shot dead. All he was trying to do is try to go to Friends Hospital to see if they could help him,” Kersey said.
According to the Philadelphia Police Department, officers got a call of a man walking into traffic naked a little before 12:30 p.m. near Torresdale and Princeton avenues. Then, a couple of minutes later, surveillance video captured officers approaching Rainey before escorting him to a police van. Police said that Rainey was having a mental breakdown and voluntarily got into the van to seek help.
“This is an innocent situation where the officers are just moving an individual who wants to get treatment. Unfortunately, it turns into a very tragic situation,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
Two officers drove him to the Friends Hospital for treatment, but when they arrived Rainey allegedly turned and attacked the officers. During the struggle, police claimed that Rainey was able to get his hands on a gun.
“There was an exchange of gunfire between the individual who now has the police officer’s weapon and his
