Lee County NAACP helps family file civil rights complaint against FMPD

Lee County’s NAACP has revealed that they helped the family of a man shot and killed by police file a civil rights complaint against the Fort Myers Police Department.

Fifty-seven-year-old Christopher Jordan died at his family home on Stella Street, Friday night.

Police said Jordan approached a window “displaying a firearm toward the officers.” That’s when an officer shot and killed Jordan.

Jordan’s sister was the one who called the police, saying he threatened her, but she never expected the response to end with her brother dead.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating the shooting, but the Jordan family and NAACP want the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to do its own investigation.

The NAACP said no one in the family saw Jordan with a gun and is calling the shooting unjustified.

Lee County NAACP president James Muwakkil said it’s unacceptable that the standoff with police only lasted 45 minutes before deadly force was used against Jordan.

Muwakkil said Jordan was not a violent person and was alone in the home, having a mental health crisis.

“A mental health professional should have been the one doing the negotiation because they are trained to work [with] these types of people,” he said. “He was a heavy drug abuser and a petty thief, but he was not known to even have had a fight in the neighborhood.”

He said a federal investigation must occur to see if the officer who pulled the trigger was justified or if this must be criminally investigated.

The Fort Myers Police Department said Jordan approached a window displaying a firearm toward an officer and was shot.

Muwakkil said Jordan was never known to have a weapon.

To be clear, no police report has been released at this point, so whether there was or was not a gun remains unclear. What is clear is that Muwakkil wants a thorough investigation he, the family and the community can trust.

“No one was in danger or immediate harm. No one else was in the home at the time when the police arrived,” Muwakkil said.

Muwakkil has advised Jordan’s family not to have him cremated until they are able to communicate with the Department of Justice civil rights division.

The family just submitted their report to them this week. Jordan’s family also plans on holding a press conference next Tuesday afternoon.

WINK reached out to FMPD for a response but has not heard back.