Two very different stories are surfacing about why an off-duty Richmond police officer shot and killed a Vallejo man.
Everyone seems to agree the incident Sunday started with an argument over a parking spot. The family of local rapper Eric Reason claims the officer gunned him down. But the officer's attorney, Michael Rains, said Reason left him with no choice.
"I'm devastated and I just don't know what to do," said Stephanie Bass, Reason's mother.
Bass came to Vallejo on Monday to see for herself where her 38-year-old son was shot and killed. Witnesses said it started as an argument over a parking spot, At some point, an off-duty Richmond police officer fired his gun at the man.
"He popped his trunk and got his gun and shot his gun," Bass said. "My son started running that way and said, 'Please don't let this man kill me.' Apparently he was shot in the back and the back of his head."
Reason was a local rapper who went by the stage name Cheddaman. His mother said he leaves behind six children. Reason also was a construction worker.
"He didn't deserve that," Bass said. "He didn't deserve to die like that."
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But the officer's attorney tells a much different story.
Rains said Reason got angry when the officer honked his horn at him while pulling into a parking spot and got out of the car to confront the off-duty cop.
The attorney said the officer tried to deescalate the situation, but the man went back to his car and pulled out a gun.
Rains said Reason then pulled out a "gun with an extended magazine and comes at the officer."
"He was in fear for his life," Rains said of the officer. "He had no idea if he was going to start shooting him or his wife. He just didn't know."
