Slidell Police Shoot To Death An Unarmed, Shirtless Man With Mental Illness

Beth Nilsson treasures a photo her son, Caleb McCree, taken in Las Vegas two years ago where he was beaming with pride after bungee jumping.

"He was very proud of that — that was an achievement," she said.

It's also how the grieving Slidell mother wants to remember her 43-year-old son, who was shot to death at a Slidell gas station Sunday afternoon by St. Tammany Parish law enforcement officers who were responding to a report of a stabbing.

Nilsson said that her son suffered from mental illness, although she declined discuss specifics.

"When he was on his medication he was a different person," Nilsson said of McCree, who lived with her. "I'm not sure what happened. I hope the investigation will reveal what actually occurred Sunday."

Details from law enforcement officials have been scarce.

Authorities have said only that a Slidell Police officer had responded to a call about a stabbing at the Circle K gas station and convenience store around 4:30 p.m. He called for backup and another Slidell Police officer and a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene.

In a news release Sunday evening, the Slidell Police Department said the officers arriving on the scene encountered McCree and at some point "shots were fired by Slidell Police and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, resulting in the killing of the alleged suspect."

McCree's fatal encounter with officers was captured on video by witnesses, one of whom said that he started recording when he saw an officer pointing a gun at a man holding a knife. The witness said the man continued moving toward police after being told to stop and after being hit with a stun gun.

The video shows a shirtless man walking forward as officers point guns at him in the parking lot of the business on Airport Road. The camera dips down as gunfire begins and raises second later when the man can be seen lying on the ground.

McCree was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said.