The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old African American teenager who was unarmed. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old multi-racial Hispanic American, was the designated neighborhood watch coordinator for The Retreat at Twin Lakes, the gated community where the shooting took place.
By Jason Sickles (Yahoo!) et al.
While in his vehicle on a private errand, Zimmerman saw Martin walking inside the community, where Martin and his father were visiting his father’s fiancée. Zimmerman called the Sanford Police Department to report Martin’s behavior as “just walking around, looking about,” which he described as suspicious. Martin was not armed and according to police there was no evidence he was committing a crime. Shortly afterwards, Zimmerman left his vehicle and there was a fight, which ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin once in the chest at close range.
When police arrived on the scene, Zimmerman told them that Martin had attacked him and that he had shot Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and from two vertical lacerations on the back of his head. EMTs treated Zimmerman at the scene, after which he was taken to the Sanford Police Department. Zimmerman was detained and questioned for approximately five hours.A statement was videotaped, and he was then released without being charged. Police said that they had not found evidence to contradict his assertion of self-defense.
The parents of Trayvon Martin say they have a hard time accepting George Zimmerman’s nationally televised apology.
Last night, in his first interview since killing the unarmed 17-year-old, the former neighborhood watch volunteer said the shooting death must have been part of “God’s plan” and that he prays for the Martin family daily.
“I simply really don’t know what God George Zimmerman is worshipping because there’s no way that the God that I serve had in his plans for George Zimmerman to murder my son,” Tracy Martin, the teen’s dad told CBS News.
Zimmerman, a licensed gun carrier in Florida, shot and killed Martin in February during a confrontation in the gated neighborhood where Zimmerman lived and Martin was visiting a family friend. Zimmerman said he thought Martin looked suspicious and was following him so he could give police his whereabouts.
But before officers arrived, Zimmerman, 28, says the black teen physically attacked him and that he was forced to shoot in self defense. The incident has polarized the country, with some calling the killing a hate crime.
“I’m not a racist and I’m not a murderer,” said Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic.
Zimmerman maintained his innocence during the Fox News interview, but did ask for forgiveness for any pain he’s caused.
“I want to tell everyone, my wife, my family, my parents, my grandmother, the Martins, the city of Sanford and America, that I’m sorry that this happened,” he said, staring into the camera lens. “I hate to think that because of this incident, because of my actions, it’s polarized and divided America. And I’m truly sorry.”
Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, told CBS News she doesn’t believe what he says.
“He also said that he doesn’t regret anything that he did that night,” Fulton said. “I don’t think God would have him, in his plan, to murder an innocent child.”