Alabama Hero Guns Down Airman For Holding Up His Wallet

OPELIKA, AL — While on an interstate drive to his next assignment in the USAF, a young man got in a minor traffic accident. When police arrived to help, they told him to raise his hands. An officer “perceived a threat” presumably because he was holding his wallet — and opened fire. The young airman was shot him in the stomach and will now live the rest of his life attached to a colostomy bag. The department “fully supports” the shooting.

On March 6th, Michael Davidson, age 20, was traveling on I-85 on his way to to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base near Goldsboro, NC. Davidson is an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force and was reporting for duty. Near Opelika, Alabama, he got into a minor collision with an 18-wheeler.

Davidson exited his vehicle to go talk to the semi-truck driver. About halfway there, he reportedly heard a noise from behind him — “hollering.” A police officer was now on the scene and was shouting at Davidson.

Police reportedly told to raise his hands in the air, and for reasons unclear, Officer Phillip Hancock of the Opelika Police Department opened fire. Davidson was shot in the stomach.

The victim’s father, Billy Davidson of Texas, has been the primary source of information so far, as his son is hospitalized and unable to speak to the media. He has passed along Michael’s version of the events, and told WTVM his son did nothing to provoke being shot.
“I didn’t know what happened. It was so fast. They couldn’t have been there three or four seconds when I was shot.”

“Michael said he heard screaming or hollering and he saw the lights. He realized it was a police vehicle and he raised up his hand. He had his billfold at the time he was turning around saying ‘I am an Airman headed to my—’ and that is as far as he got. As he turned around he felt something hit him and he had been shot,” Billy said.

“He kept asking ‘Why did you shoot me?’”, his father added, noting that his son soon fell unconscious and nearly died.“He lost so much blood they ran out of blood and had to use blood expanders,” his father said.

“The next thing I know I was on the ground,” Michael told his father. “I didn’t realize he shot me. I didn’t know what happened. It was so fast. They couldn’t have been there three or four seconds when I was shot.”