22-year-old James Scurlock was fatally shot outside of a bar in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday night.
A man connected to the shooting has been taken into custody.
via Complex:
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Scurlock was shot and killed during a protest, and the owner of the bar the Hive is allegedly responsible.
Scurlock was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, while the unnamed bar owner is being questioned by police.
“Last night, I lost a son,” said Scurlock’s father James on Sunday. “My kids lost a brother. His daughter lost a father. All because he decided to protest against racism. There’s a lot of speculation and rumors about how this happened. I don’t really care to be honest. My family wants closure and peace. … What we want is for this to go to court and get a full prosecution. We want this to go with justice and go peacefully.”
While police have yet to publicly identify the alleged shooter, Omaha World-Herald reported that it was Jake Gardner. He’s also the owner of a second bar in Omaha, the Gatsby, and has described himself as a libertarian in the past. Additionally, Gardner is a former Marine and volunteered for the Trump campaign in 2016, the Daily Beast reports.
Officers were not involved in the shooting, and police chief Todd Schmaderer called it a “terrible incident.”
BuzzFeed News reports that the alleged shooter yelled racial slurs before firing his gun. Protesters in downtown Omaha gathered on Sunday to hold a vigil for Scurlock on the street he was killed, breaking curfew to do so.
There’s a lot happening in the media right now, but we can not let this go unaddressed.
13th & Howard where James Scurlock was murdered last night..it is after curfew and people are not leaving! #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/YNmpwm6Gch
— nicole (@Nicole_sheRaRa) June 1, 2020
