Police officer Rusten Sheskey, who shot Jacob Blake multiple times in the back, thought he was trying to abduct his own child. His lawyer has claimed.

Officer thought Jacob Blake was trying to abduct his child: The incident happened on the 23rd August in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After Mr Sheskey said that the suspect was turning towards him with a knife so he opened fire according to Brendan Matthews, his lawyer.

In a statement, Mr Matthews said that the officer was attending the scene in response to a woman. Who had called to say that Blake was at her home and shouldn’t be there. When he arrived he heard the woman say “he’s got my kid and my keys” and Blake was putting a child into an SUV.

The officer didn’t realise at the time that two other children were already in the car said Mr Matthews. He went on to say that Mr Sheskey did not stop shooting until he was sure Blake was no longer a threat.

The shooting started several nights of civil unrest and protests against police brutality across many parts of the US. With reports that two protestors were killed and one wounded by a 17-year-old in Illinois. Ben Crump, the lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Blake’s family, said that he did nothing that day to antagonize the police. And that eye witnesses never saw him with a knife.

Later, a 22-year-old bystander who filmed the altercation on his phone, Raysean White, said he saw three officers in a scuffle with Mr Blake. And heard them shout repeatedly “drop the knife!” before shots were heard.

Additionally, Mr Blake, who already had a warrant out on him before the incident, has pleaded not guilty to the charge from his hospital bed via a video link. The trial is due to start on the 9th November.

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