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Family says police went too far in shooting 
07:39 AM EST on Monday, January 26, 2009
DALLAS, N.C.-- The president of the Gaston County NAACP said his office will file a complaint with the Dallas Police Department and the NAACP national office after two Dallas police officers shot a man early Saturday morning.
“We're not going to make any accusations against the police department,” said Clyde Walker. “We’re not going to be rioting. We want to do this thing in a civil matter.”
Walker said he is talking to neighbors and collecting witness statements after family members of the victim say he was unarmed. He agreed many of the accounts are not consistent.
Dallas police released a statement Saturday saying two of its officers are on administrative leave after the shooting, which occurred while Officer R.R. Flick and Sgt. J.C. Propst were serving a warrant for assault on Terrance Kennedy in the 500 block of East Peachtree Street.
The statement said Kennedy attempted to grab one of the officers' duty weapons before he was shot one time.
Kennedy's family members -- and witnesses who said they were outside the home when the shooting happened -- didn't see the scuffle that way.
Multiple people who claimed to witness the shooting, including Kennedy's youngest sister, said Kennedy first tried to run from officers.
Some of the bystanders, who were still outside the home Saturday afternoon, said officers first used pepper spray on Kennedy, then deployed a taser.
Some even told NewsChannel 36 they saw an officer hit Kennedy with a police baton, and they heard one officer tell the other, “shoot him,” before he was shot.
Dallas Police Chief Gary Buckner told NewsChannel 36 Saturday he could neither confirm nor deny the family’s account of what happened because the shooting is under investigation.
Walker said the accusations are serious enough to warrant close consideration.
“They beat him while he was down,” said Walker. “And one police (officer) says 'shoot him' and that is serious.”
Another of Kennedy’s sisters called it “overkill.”
"I'm gonna have to use the word that they 'murdered' my brother -- because no police should have to beat you with a stick, tase you twice, then shoot you," said Janice Kennedy.
The Dallas police statement said the State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.
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