BRADENTON, Fla. — The Bradenton Police Department (BPD) held a press conference Friday to discuss the findings of an officer-involved shooting investigation.
Chief Josh Cramer said evidence concludes the officers' use of deadly force was lawful and justified under Florida Statute Sections 782.02 and 776.051 after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigation into the officer-involved shooting on March 10 that left 56-year-old William "Tyrone" Bell dead.
Watch report from Robert Boyd
During the press conference, Chief Cramer said, " Our officers don't go out every day to do their jobs. I don't put on this uniform every day to go out and try to target certain people other than the bad guys. Other than people breaking the law. We're gonna do that every day. We're not gonna stop doing that."
Tampa Bay 28's Jada Williams covered the story in March.
The Bradenton Police Department told Williams that its narcotics unit had a search warrant to go inside the home in the 300 block of 10th Avenue West on March 10. When inside the home, police said they noticed a closed door of a room where "activity" was happening.
WATCH FULL PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW
"It was a high-risk search warrant, meaning we had information that at least one person inside the home was a convicted felon and there was at least one gun in the home," said Bradenton Police spokesperson Meredith Censullo.
Censullo said the SWAT team noticed movement inside the home as they approached and slowed down. Once inside, they encountered a room near the entrance they could not see into.
"As they attempted to enter that room, they saw a person inside the room with a gun," Censullo said. "There were commands given to that person. The person did not comply with those commands, and one of our officers fired shots."
A SWAT medic on scene immediately provided aid, but Bell did not survive.
Bell's brother, William "James" Bell, told Jada Williams his brother was partially paralyzed and could not get to the door quickly.
"They came here to serve a warrant, a drug warrant, and he didn't open the door fast enough," James Bell said. "He [is] partially paralyzed so he couldn't get to the door fast, and they being that they served a warrant, they should have known this."
James Bell said officers shot flash bangs through the window before firing and said he believed someone on scene told officers his brother was handicapped before they fired.
BPD provided an officer's body-worn camera video after the press conference.
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