On the evening of December 20, 2023, 24-year-old Tristan Decedric Clark was shot and killed during a traffic stop by members of a narcotics task force near Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Law enforcement says officers stopped the vehicle as part of a narcotics investigation, that Clark had active warrants and was visibly armed, and that a struggle ensued during which Clark drew a handgun and an officer fired, fatally wounding him.

Clark’s family disputes that account. Their attorney says Clark had his hands raised while officers confronted him and that an officer fired four to five shots at close range into his upper body and head. No drugs were found in the vehicle and no drug charges were filed against the other two occupants. Narcotics officers in Tuscaloosa were not required to wear body cameras in 2023, and there is no bodycam footage of the stop.

The family, including his mother Jacoya Clark, remembers Tristan as a father of three who had recently embraced his faith and been active in his church. They have filed a $100 million federal lawsuit alleging excessive and unreasonable force; the shooting investigation was turned over to the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit.

Did anyone in the area near Bowers Park that night see the stop or have information about the occupants of the vehicle?