Kordell Jones would not be dead had his brother, Jason Jones, not been involved in criminal activity that included an armed robbery, a person of interest in a homicide, and alleged affiliation with a violent gang, Mobile’s police chief said Thursday.

But blaming Jason Jones for the officer-involved shooting death of 24-year-old Kordell “Joe” Jones sparked social media criticism from the Jones family, and is fueling questions from the local chapter of the NAACP over how incident unfolded early Tuesday at 856 Charles St.

“It’s suffice to say that we have a family grieving a loss of a child, Mr. Kordell Jones,” Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine said during a news conference at the department’s headquarters. “He was not the target of this investigation at all. It was his brother, Jason Jones, who was the criminal we were looking for. This is why it’s important that families understand what your family members do matter.”

He added, “I think it’s important to note that had Jason Jones not been involved in criminal activity, the Mobile Police Department would not be standing here before you today.”

LaKenda Jones, a sister of the two brothers, did not comment to AL.com on Thursday. But she blasted Mobile police on a TV station’s social media site, accusing them of murdering her brother. She also wrote that police should stop blaming Jason Jones, 19, for shooting Kordell Jones.

“We are not going for it!” LaKenda Jones wrote on her Facebook page. “JT didn’t shoot and kill Joe. MPD did!!!”

“That officer had no right to take my brother,” she added.

Mobile police are still investigating the shooting, and is declining to release officer-worn body camera footage.

Prine is also declining to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting, citing threats that his officers have received in the two days since the shooting happened.

The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office is conducting a separate investigation and is declining to release additional details.

“We will ensure a thorough and expedient investigation occurs,” said District Attorney Keith Blackwood in a statement. “This case will be presented to a Mobile County grand jury. Our thoughts are with the family of Kordell Jones as well as the officer and his/her family.”

Shot during raid

Prine said Kordell Jones was shot and killed early Tuesday after a Mobile police SWAT team was attempting to execute a search warrant at 856 Charles St. It was related to a robbery investigation in February in which Jason Jones was identified as one of two men who perpetrated an armed robbery. Prine also said that Jason Jones is a “person of interest” in a homicide that also occurred last month.

He said the officer breached the house’s front door and a side door. The front door was breached using an “energized breach method” which created a loud boom that rattled the neighborhood south of downtown Mobile, and two blocks from the city’s public services department facilities.

Prine said officers never went inside the house. He said they announce their presence outdoors, and then sounded a siren “to put everyone on notice.”

“In addition to that, they got on a loud PA system on an armored vehicle and announced their presence that they were the Mobile Police Department and they were there for a search warrant and gave special instructions to the occupants to exist the residences,” said Prine.

Six people inside the house, including a child, “complied with instructions” and left the house.

About 22 seconds later, Kordell Jones “leapt from a rear window” completely nude and armed with an AR-style rifle, Prine said.

The gun was not stolen, and to Prine’s knowledge, was legally owned by Jones.

“He encountered a SWAT officer and that officer conducted deadly force,” Prine said. He said there was a bullet in the chamber of Jones’ gun, and that it’s activator switch was on and that it was “ready to be deployed.”

Prine said the shooting was justified, though he emphasized that it remains an active investigation.

“Listen, this is tragic,” Prine said. “We don’t take it lightly anytime there is a death in our community. It doesn’t matter if it’s at th hands of a criminal or the unfortunate incident at the hands of a police officer. This is a stain on our community.”

Prine said a preliminary report suggests the officer fired four shots at Jones, striking him twice to the left side of his body and one to the left shoulder.

“We have no additional information and have not received a confirmation report,” Prine said regarding the exact locations of the gunshot wounds, noting that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences has yet to finalize its report.

Questions raised

Robert Clopton, the head of the Mobile chapter of the NAACP, said the location of the gunshot wounds is critical information that should be released, and will allow the community to better understand if Jones was shot as he fled the house.

“They did not indicate whether those shots were in the back,” Clopton said. “I think that is information that could be shared regardless of body camera information or not.”

Clopton is also asking questions over why Jones, after he was shot, was carried to the nearest intersection of Charles and Shawnee streets.

Prine said a medic, who is a member of the SWAT team, carried Jones “to the nearest intersection” because there were multiple people inside the residence at the time.

“The scene was not secure,” said Prine. “We wanted to ensure Jones received the treatment he deserved to get. We brought him closer to an intersection while waiting on paramedics to get there.”

Clopton said he has questions about how Jones was taken to the intersection.

“Sometimes when the individual is injured, more damage is done (when moving the person),” he said. “To move an individual from Point A to nearly a block away, does not measure up.”

Body camera footage

Prine, meanwhile, confirmed repeatedly that police do not plan to release the body camera footage from the officer who shot and killed Jones. He said he has seen it, and believed there was no wrongdoing by the officer.

He said the footage would also not be released by police to the Jones family.

“The family has yet to have time to process the loss of a child,” Prine said. “Yes, Kordell was an adult but he’s still someone’s child. We are not without compassion. With having children of my own, I would not want that video shown until I had the time to process and grieve.”

Alabama does not have a law requiring the release of body cam footage, and authorities have denied releasing footage in past cases.

The Alabama State Supreme Court, in 2021, ruled 8-1 that videos, recordings of 911 calls, photos, autopsy records, emails and text messages related to investigative materials, do not have to be released to the public.

Clopton said whenever authorities refuse to release footage, it gives an appearance of something to hide.

“The body cameras are there to protect you, the policemen,” he said.