Court docs include officer’s account of E.J. Bradford’s shooting death

HOOVER, Ala. (WBRC) - David Alexander is the Hoover police officer who was assigned foot patrol inside the Riverchase Galleria on Thanksgiving Day of 2018. Two people were shooting at each other, and according to court documents, Officer Alexander fired the fatal shots at E.J. Bradford.

In an affidavit, dated May 5, 2022, Officer Alexander detailed the events of that night:

“On the evening of November 22, 2018, the Galleria Mall was crowded with shoppers. My partner and I were located on the second floor of the Galleria Mall in front of Spencer’s Gifts. I was observing the crowd for violations of law/or disruptions to the orderly conduct of shopping. I heard two gunshots and a female’s scream behind me. I turned toward where I heard the gunshots and drew my firearm and moved in the direction of the sound of gunshots scanning for suspects. I observed two males not running away, but instead, they were near the railing in front of the Foot Action store. One of the males appeared to be injured and was clutching his stomach, while the other male appeared to be helping him. I next observed an armed suspect quickly moving toward the two males who were near the railing. The armed individual was quickly advancing on the two males and had a black handgun in his right hand in a ready to fire position. The crowd of shoppers near the Foot Action store were running away from where I heard gunshots, but the armed individual was moving toward where I heard gunshots. I fired my duty weapon at the armed individual to prevent him from killing anyone. He fell near the other two males and his firearm slid across the floor. At the time I fired my duty weapon, I was in reasonable fear for the lives of the shoppers, my partner and myself. I believed that the individual I shot was going to murder two individuals near the railing and he was only about ten feet away from them. Approximately five seconds elapsed between the time I first heard gunshots until the time I fired my duty weapon and shot E.J. Bradford, the armed individual.”

In that same court document, Officer Alexander stated that he is a graduate of the Tuscaloosa Police Academy and has been a Hoover police officer since 2017.

The documents also include a copy of the Alabama Attorney General’s report regarding the shooting death of E.J. Bradford. The report concludes that the shooting of Bradford by Officer Alexander was justified, and no crime was committed.

VIDEO: Riverchase Galleria Shooting Surveillance Footage

A copy of Erron Brown’s indictment was also included. Brown fired the first shots in the mall that night. He pled guilty to two counts of first-degree assault for inuring two people - an 18-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl. Brown was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of supervised probation.

The records are part of a brief filed in support of a motion for summary judgement in a 2018 lawsuit filed by Bradford’s mother and his estate, against the City of Hoover and the Galleria Mall. A motion for summary judgement is a request to the court to evaluate the merits of a case prior to the case going to trial. It is made when a question of law needs to be decided.

A status conference on the case was held Jan. 24, 2023. The details of that proceeding have not yet been released.

Official Court Documents Are Below

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