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While talking to reporters on Friday, Marcus-David Peters' sister Princess Blanding pauses for a minute to collect herself while talking about his hopes of starting a youth program for kids who don’t have father figures in their lives. She said she intends to carry that out in his honor. (Photo by Sarah King)
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Princess Blanding speaks during a news conference at Richmond's Second Baptist Church after the release of the police and security videos. (Photo by Sarah King)
In the moments before 24-year-old Marcus-David Peters’ fatal shooting, he crashes his car and runs naked onto Interstate 95, where a vehicle strikes him. He writhes on the pavement before standing up and walking toward a Richmond police officer, shouting, “Back the f--- off. Put that taser down or I’ll kill you.”
Officer Michael Nyantakyi first tries shooting Peters with a taser, but when the naked man keeps moving toward him, the officer fires his gun twice. As Peters staggers away, Nyantakyi can be seen holding a blood-splattered taser, which he drops.
“Did you tase him?” asks a state trooper arriving at the scene.
“I tried. It didn’t work,” Nyantakyi says. Into his police radio, he calls out, “427, shots fired.” Breathing rapidly, he walks toward Peters, now collapsed on the grass. After a pause, he exclaims, “F---!”
In an unprecedented decision, Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham on Friday released the video from Nyantakyi’s body-worn camera, along with security camera footage from the Jefferson Hotel and Monroe Park, showing Peters before the May 14 shooting.
The incident garnered widespread attention, both because Peters — a 2016 Virginia Commonwealth University honors alum and residential assistant — was an unarmed black man killed by law enforcement, but also because of his erratic, uncharacteristic behavior before the shooting.
Nyantakyi, a 10-year veteran of the department who is African-American, is on paid administrative leave while the Force Investigation Team conducts a criminal investigation.
“I’d like to acknowledge the Richmond Police Department understands the concerns and impact this has had on the community,” Durham told reporters at a news conference held at police headquarters Friday afternoon.
“In the interest of transparency — and as promised, we met with members of Mr. Peters’ family, and their attorney," he said of the meeting which took place Wednesday, after Peters' funeral was held last Saturday. "I’m not going to share much about that meeting except to say that it was an emotional moment for all involved and questions by the family and attorney were answered to the best of our ability.”
Before showing the footage to reporters, Durham emphasized he is not involved in the investigation process — which is conducted by the Force Investigation Team comprising major crimes detectives, is standard procedure when lethal force is used and is ongoing.
He also warned viewers sitting inside police headquarters — as well as those watching the department's video live stream — of the graphic nature of the clips.
“I want to be clear: this video release today is not to demean, humiliate or cast a negative shadow on Mr. Peters or his family,” Durham said, adding, “It has not been my practice to release video during an active investigation, but there has been so much misinformation and speculation out there about what happened that I feel it is my duty and responsibility as chief.”
He then played a security camera footage compilation depicting Peters at the Jefferson, where he was last seen before his involvement in two separate hit-and-run incidents involving three other vehicles, both on and off the highway.
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham discusses the shooting time line with reporters. (Photo by Sarah King)
The security camera footage, which is not time-stamped and Durham noted is heavily edited to include only scenes depicting Peters, shows him parking his car in the hotel’s round-about entrance. He’s next seen walking through the atrium of the hotel, where he nonchalantly drops his shirt near a statue of Thomas Jefferson in the lobby and circles briefly back and forth — almost as if he is lost, or pacing while in thought.
The next scene shows him still shirtless but wearing slacks and nice shoes — presumably what he wore to teach classes that day — standing with his back to the security camera in a hallway. He is facing a pharmacy-style window in the hallway and appears to be conversing with someone on the other side whose face is not visible from the angle of the camera.
An employee walks up and stands behind Peters during this conversation; another employee walks past both men to exit the hallway. The video has no sound, but Peters does not seem overtly distressed until the final seconds of the scene when he points his finger aggressively at the window and walks out of the camera’s view. The last clip is of Peters sprinting around the side of the hotel, now completely naked, to his car.
When asked about footage of when or where Peters stripped off his remaining clothing, Durham said the hotel cameras did not capture this portion, but his pants were recovered on Franklin Street, which runs parallel to the front entrance of the hotel.
Peters then speeds down Adams street, strikes a vehicle on Belvidere — at which point Nyantakyi pursues him as he flees the scene — exits onto the highway near Chamberlayne Road, strikes two more vehicles and loses control of his car, crashing in the brush to the side of the highway. Durham next showed reporters Nyantakyi’s body-worn camera footage — once at regular speed, which he explained is unedited footage except to blur Peters’ genitals, and again at a slower speed.
The entire course of events on the highway transpired in less than three minutes. Peters died hours later at VCU Medical Center.
Marcus-David Peters, a biology teacher at Essex High School in Tappahannock, is shown with his sister Princess Blanding. (Family photo)
"He did not need to die, he needed help," says Princess Blanding, Peters' oldest sister and an administrator at the high school where he taught science classes, at a news conference held at Second Baptist Church after the police video releases.
Blanding says she believes the released footage should be seen by the public and urges any other witnesses who may have information or video of Peters in the time before his death to reach out.
"We did view [the same footage as reporters], however there are still many questions ... There are moments he appears and moments he disappears; there are no time stamps," Blanding says. "This is an ongoing investigation. I would also put it out there because I hope transparency is taking place, but I’m not convinced that’s the case."
Blanding also reiterated that Peters, the youngest of a dozen siblings, exhibited no signs in the days or hours before his death that something was amiss, and the behavior exhibited in the now-public videos "has never been seen by me or my family before — ever."
Peters, known as "Poppy," according to his obituary, was born in Newburgh, New York. After moving to Virginia's Northern Neck, he graduated from Middlesex High School at the top of his class and went on to attend VCU, where he graduated magna cum laude.
"Poppy was known for his big and bubbly personality and his ability to brighten a room with his smile," the obituary reads. "He was a man of faith and a very family-oriented person. Marcus loved to help others succeed and surpass expectations. One of his aspirations was to create a youth program to help underprivileged children to reach their goals. Poppy enjoyed watching others excel and constantly raised the bar for compassion and empathy."
On Friday, Peters' sister told reporters of her little brother's aspirations and commitment to bettering the lives of his students and other youth.
"One thing that Marcus was working really hard toward was to be able to start a program to ... help other students who didn’t have a father-figure in their life," Blanding told reporters, after a brief pause to collect herself. "And I will work hard to execute that."
The circumstances surrounding Peters' final hours are unclear, even to his closest friends and family. After finishing his work day teaching in Essex County, he briefly stopped at his home in Henrico County, where he lived with his girlfriend.
He took off his school badge, said he needed to go to a meeting at the hotel and told his girlfriend he loved her. Hours later, she learned from officers who arrived at their home that Peters' was in the intensive care unit.
"I want people to remember Marcus for the outstanding person that Marcus was," Blanding says. "Marcus was a son, he was a believer in God, a brother, an uncle, a teacher, a mentor — Marcus was an awesome person."
