KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Learning that the Kansas City, Missouri, police officer whoshot and killed Donnie Sanders last March wouldn't face charges was like ripping the scab off an emotional wound his family has suffered.
"He could have shot him in the leg, he could have given him a warning shot or anything instead of straight up shooting him," Mark Sanders, Donnie's uncle, said, questioning the officer's training.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Bakerannounced the lack of charges Monday afternoon, stating that her office was required to limit its review to focus on criminal charges rather than concerns Donnie Sanders' death raised.
Later on Monday, Donnie's relatives watched for the first time how a traffic violation escalated to an officer shooting Sanders five times, killing the unarmed man.
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"It's not right. It's not right way for to do them the way they did him," Calvin Sanders, another uncle, said.
The dashcam footage was a key piece of evidence for the prosecutor's office use of force committee to determine whether or not to file charges against the officer, who has not been named. That officer told investigators that Sanders held up his hand toward him "as if he's got a gun."
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Sam Sanders, Donnie’s brother, said that comment was infuriating.
"My brother don't carry weapons, you know,” Sam said, “and to say that my brother was trying to take aim at him or whatever they trying to say, that's not true."
Investigators noted one witness from a nearby house said that it appeared Sanders was pointing a gun at the officer and another said Sanders had his arm extended and was moving toward the officer.
"If you're a cop-officer-like if a person have a gun pointing at you, regardless it is nighttime or daytime you're supposed trained to see," Sam said.
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The committee attempted to clean up the audio from the footage to understand what Sanders was saying before the shooting, even consulting with a sound expert. But the committee was unable to do so.
"I don't understand, how can you legally murder or basically legally murder a person?" James Sanders, one of Donnie’s cousins, said.
Ultimately investigators concluded that the evidence collected was insufficient to support charges against the officer.
"As being a Black man, there's no justice for us like, they do whatever they want to do to us," Mark Sanders, another of Donnie’s uncles, said.
The Sanders family now is considering suing KCPD over the shooting. They also plan to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
