Californian police are under internal investigation after they shot dead a young rapper in his car at a Taco Bell drive-through.
Officers from the town of Vallejo responded to call at 10.30pm on Monday, requesting they check on the driver of a car parked at a Taco Bell. They found the man, identified as 21-year-old, rapper Willie McCoy, "unresponsive " with a handgun on his lap, according to a police statement.
They said they told Mr McCoy to keep his hands visible after he "suddenly began to move".
But the driver "reached for the handgun on his lap" which prompted the officers to fire at the young man, according to the statement.
Mr McCoy died at the scene.
Police allege the semi-automatic pistol had been reported stolen from Oregon, but it was unclear how the firearm came into Mr McCoy's possession.
The family of the young man, who goes by the rapper name Willie Bo, questioned the police response.
“It’s a really big loss. Really, really unexpected,” Mr McCoy's cousin, David Harrison, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday.
“There’s a lot of grieving going on, trying to make sense of this thing.”
The death of Mr McCoy at the hands of the police follows at least three fatal police shootings in the Bay Area in recent years, according to the publication.
