Family wants answers after pallbearer killed by officers

The state of West Virginia. After helping carry his father's body to the hearse, Owens embraced a relative. He wasn't able to make it to the cemetery.

Two plainclothes officers with a fugitive warrant swooped in from separate vehicles, called Owens' name and shot him dead, spattering his son's shirt with blood as horrified loved ones looked.

Whitecotton said there was no warning.

In less than a second, friends and family were mourning one member's death. They want to know why the encounter happened the way it did.

Law enforcement officials aren't giving a lot of information right now. The U.S. marshals service didn't say what the warrant was for. He had a gun when members of the fugitive task force approached. Several witnesses say that's not true.

Owens was fired immediately after his name was called, according to Whitecotton and others who stood nearby. The witnesses disagree with the U.S. marshals' claim that first aid was done before emergency services arrived.

"They shouted at him." Whitecotton said that they just said the name of the person and then began firing. There wasn't any identification for them, they were U.S. marshals. The man did not get any help from them. They didn't touch him to give any aid.

State police were investigating the shooting as relatives prepared for Owens' funeral. The community is taking a long time.

The death of Owens, who was white, was the subject of a protest outside the Harrison County Courthouse last week. More than half of the population of Nutter Fort, where Owens was killed, are members of the Justice forJason Owens Facebook page.

There are unanswered questions regarding the arrest of a man in the middle of his father's funeral.

Tracy L.Hahn retired after 32 years in law enforcement, including as deputy police chief at Ohio State University.

Agencies that have gone to funerals have waited until after the funeral to approach the person.

There must be a reason why they felt the need to arrest him and not wait.

They aren't sure. It adds to their sense of disrespect that the agencies don't have to answer their questions.

Owens' family wants to know why you would do this in front of them. What does it mean that you have the right to do that to a man?

Terry Moore, the acting U.S. marshal, said he couldn't answer questions during the investigation.

It is not clear if there is video from the police car dashboard, the funeral home or the body cam. In West Virginia, the release of incident reports and video footage after fatal police shootings is rare.

Police in West Virginia don't have to release video footage during investigations. The U.S. marshals service did not write a detailed incident report about the shooting.

He had been in trouble with the law before. He was sentenced to three to 13 years in prison for attempting to kill a Harrison County sheriff's deputy. He was paroled in April 2021.

Swiger said he committed a parole violation because he didn't check in once. He promised to turn himself in after the funeral.

Whitecotton said she was smoking a cigarette after the service when an SUV flew down the side street.

She jumped up on the curb and asked him what his problem was. A man in shorts and a shirt jumped out of his house.

Swiger said a white truck with another plainclothes officer in it almost hit her mother's car as it sped into the parking lot. As many as 40 people were in the area at the time Owens was shot, according to Swiger. She also denied seeing a gun in Owens' hands.

Swiger said that some mourners rushed towards Owens after he fell to the ground, but that one of the officers told them to back off.

Whitecotton has lived in large cities like Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth.

She said that she's never dealt with anything like this before. It would be expected there. It's not here.