TITUSVILLE, Fla. — On Thursday night, Titusville Police Chief John Lau and other city officials accepted an invitation from the North Brevard NAACP to speak at the group’s regular meeting.
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Lau provided new details about the Feb. 7 shooting that were also shared in a department Facebook post describing what happened as police arrived at 490 South Robbins Avenue.
Titusville police say they were already familiar with the address because of previous complaints and calls for service.
A search warrant was served on the residence two days before the shooting.
When police arrived last Friday, they said they spotted someone trying to exit the back of the residence.
They say Charles tried to hurry out of the front door.
On Facebook, Lau said, “Mr. Charles appeared to have tripped, causing a firearm to fall from his waistband. Our officer, who was at the front door, immediately yelled in a loud and clear voice several times he has a gun!”
Lau said Charles rushed toward the officer.
Read: Protests over deadly police shooting stop Titusville City Council meeting
He added, “Mr. Charles then, for an unknown reason, picked up the gun which had fallen from his waistband, rearming himself. At this point, shots were fired by the officers.”
Some area residents are urging TPD to release police body camera footage of the incident.
The department says nothing will be released until FDLE concludes its investigation of the shooting. That’s expected to take approximately four to six weeks.
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