PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The family of a 22-year-old West Philadelphia man who FBI agents shot and killed last August is looking for clarity from authorities about what happened.
“If you have an arrest warrant or a search warrant, it should not be your death warrant,” said Stacy Weeks, who for six months has been agonizing over what happened to her son, Tahiem Weeks-Cook.
Attorney Paul Hetznecker says she wants to know why FBI agents gunned him down on West Venango Street, near 17th Street, on the afternoon of Aug. 4, 2023.
“It was painful watching my son suffer,” she said.
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Residential surveillance video provided by Hetznecker shows Weeks-Cook running from armed officers in combat gear. FBI agents can be seen riding alongside him in a van as he runs. An agent fires a shot from inside the van, hitting Weeks-Cook.
After he falls to the ground, agents are then seen swarming Weeks-Cook and pulling him across the street. Eventually the agents take him away, leaving behind a puddle of his blood.
By the time Weeks reached her son at the hospital, he was on a ventilator with a partially amputated leg.
“The last time I see my son, he couldn't talk. He was on life support,” she said.
She says no one at the hospital told her what happened, and she claims they tried to prevent her from being by her son’s side during his final moments.
“They haven't told me anything … even extended their condolences for killing my son.”
Hetznecker, says a search warrant was later served at Weeks-Cook’s home in connection with a string of alleged burglaries. He says no weapons were recovered. A notice of claim, which must be filed before a lawsuit can commence, has been filed with the FBI.
“I contacted the federal government in August requesting information about this investigation, and the only response I got was a letter from the FBI instructing me to file a Freedom of Information Act request,” Hetznecker said. “To me, that's not satisfactory.”
Hetznecker says the family wants to know whether agents were trained in de-escalation tactics and why the FBI felt the need to shoot.
“He is unarmed. His hands are open, they're empty. And he gets shot twice. That, to me, is a classic case of excessive force,” said the attorney.
“Regardless of whether there's an arrest warrant or a search warrant, it should not result in the death of an individual who is presumed innocent and has yet to face any criminal charges in a court of law.”
The FBI has not yet responded to a request for comment.