MEMPHIS, Tenn. — State investigators are digging into the most recent Memphis Police officer-involved shooting, after an officer shot and killed a man who was pointing a BB gun at drivers in Raleigh.
Andre Horton was 42 years old, and his family says they tried to get him mental help this week. His brother says he made his mistakes as anyone else, but he was not a bad person.
“Do I think my brother wanted to die, or do I think he had a mental illness? And see this is the balance right now,” Arlandis Horton said.
Police lights lit up in Raleigh on Thursday night after officers say Horton stood in the middle of the street pointing a gun at drivers, forcing them to fire theirs.
TBI announced Friday that the gun Horton had at the scene was a BB gun.
Arlandis Horton says his family noticed a change in his brothers behavior recently.
His mother, who we spoke with off camera, was worried about him. She took him to the hospital in hopes he would be able to get help.
“They didn’t accept him the first time from the other hospital so he probably thought ‘I can’t get help this time.'”
The family has endured a lot of pain in the last few years, losing loved ones, even children.
Just two months ago, WREG was there when Andre’s daughter’s stepfather was killed by police during a barricade situation in Bartlett.
His family says incidents like this may have gotten to him.
“I don’t know if that triggered something in Andre’s life. I don’t know.”
Although it hurts they say they are feeling at peace, knowing that Andre is in a better place now.
They just hope they can live life knowing they tried to get him help and knowing he was just going through something he couldn’t control.
The officer was not injured. He has been relieved of duty pending the outcome of this investigation.