A cop in North Carolina is facing Voluntary Manslaughter charges, after shooting a killing a man who had just survived a car wreck and was apparently running to officers seeking help.

24-year old Jonathan Ferrell’s car had run off the road in Charlotte into a grove of trees. The crash was so bad, he had to crawl out of the back window.  And that was no easy task, as Ferrell was a big fellow, and a former football player for Florida A&M University.  He moved to Charlotte to continue his studies at a small private college.

He knocked on the door of the nearest home looking for help, but the homeowner didn’t recognize him, so she hit a panic button alarm.

Officers had responded to what they thought was a “breaking and entering” call.  They say that when they got to the scene, a man matching the caller's description of the suspect (who did nothing more than knock on the door) ran toward them.

Instead of four officers taking control of the situation and asking 24-year old Jonathan Ferrell what was going on, one of them pulled out his taser weapon, but it misfired.  That’s when officials say Officer Randall Kerrick pulled his gun and shot Ferrell several times. 

“The evidence revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive,” read a police statement.  “Our investigation has shown that Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter.”

How could this have gone so wrong, so fast?  Well, this happened in the American south.  The cops and the homeowner are all white.  Jonathan Ferrell was big and black.

“If Mr. Ferrell was not black or brown, wouldn't they have asked him a few questions before showering him with bullets?” asked Chris Chestnut, the attorney retained by the Farrell family.

Kerrick is now charged and free on US$50,000 bond, while the other cops are relieved of duty pending an investigation.