Mike Ramos' mother renews calls for officer's arrest over son's death
AUSTIN, Texas - Brenda Ramos, the mother of Mike Ramos, is once again calling for the police officer involved in the fatal shooting of her son to be charged and arrested.
42-year-old Ramos was killed in late April by APD Officer Christopher Taylor in southeast Austin. Police were called to the scene because of a gun urgent call of a suspect holding a gun in the air.
The shooting was filmed by several witnesses and a cell phone video shared with FOX 7 Austin shows Ramos with his hands up, showing his waist. He is standing on the driver's side of a car, telling police he is unarmed.
Brenda Ramos is holding a press conference at 3 p.m. She is planning on speaking in front of La Mexicana Bakery on South First Street, where a group of artists created a mural in honor of Mike Ramos.
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According to police, the shooting occurred in a parking lot at the Rosemont at Oak Valley apartments. It was filmed by several witnesses.
Police yelled commands at Ramos, before Ramos is shot once with a bean bag. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley says the less-lethal weapon was fired by rookie Austin Police Officer Mitchell Pieper.
Ramos then gets into a car and attempts to drive away when another officer, Christopher Taylor shoots him three times with a rifle. Manley confirmed that Taylor was one of two officers who fired a lethal weapon, killing a man experiencing a mental health crisis in downtown Austin in July 2019.
Three months aafter the incident, the Austin Police Department released bodycam footage from the night Mike Ramos was killed. Brenda Ramos says she's seen the video once and that was enough for her to come to the conclusion that her son was wrongfully killed at the hands of APD.
“He didn't know what was going on. His face, he was just confused and scared and frightened, you know? Anybody would," she said.
Ramos believes APD Officer Christopher Taylor did not have to shoot lethal rounds at her son. "There were other ways, just other ways to do their job correctly, but on this one here, it was not correct," she said.