The family of Jason Arnie Owens wants answers after officers killed the pallbearer  

Jason Arnie Owens helped carry his father’s casket to the hearse, then turned to embrace a relative. He never made it to the cemetery.

Jason Arnie Owens’s Family wants answers after the pallbearer was killed by officers

Jason Arnie Owens helped carry his father’s casket to the hearse, then turned to embrace a relative. He never made it to the graveyard. While mourners gathered outside a northern West Virginia funeral home on Aug. 24, two plainclothes officers with a fugitive warrant came in from different vehicles, called Owens’ name, and shot him dead, spattering his 18-year-old son’s clothing with blood as terrified loved ones gazed.

“There was no warning whatsoever,” family friend Cassandra Whitecotton said. In the flash of an eye, astonished friends and family already mourning one member lost another. Now, they want answers — not just why Owens was shot but why the incident unfolded the way it did. Law enforcement officials aren’t explaining much right now, citing an ongoing investigation. Owens, 37, was wanted on a fugitive warrant, but the U.S. Marshals Service hasn’t said what it was for.

The agency also said in a statement that he had a gun when members of a fugitive task force approached. Multiple witnesses contend that’s not true. Whitecotton and others who stood just feet away said Owens was unarmed, had been hugging his aunt, Evelyn O’Dell, and was fired on immediately after his name was called. Witnesses also dispute the U.S. Marshals’ assertion that first aid was performed right away before emergency medical services arrived. “They yelled Jason’s name. They just said ‘Jason’ and then started firing,” Whitecotton recounted.

No Identifications

“There were no identifications they were U.S. Marshals — anything. They did not render this man any aid at all. Never once they touched him to give any aid whatsoever.”As relatives prepared for services Friday for Owens, a state police investigation of the shooting was underway. But patience in the community is becoming thin. Relatives and allies gathered outside the Harrison County Courthouse last week, accusing law enforcement authorities of overreach in the death of Owens, who was white. A Facebook page called Justice for Jason Owens has risen to approximately 800 members – more than half of the population of Nutter Fort, where Owens was killed.

Underlying the unanswered questions is whether some boundary of decency had been crossed in arresting a man in the midst of burying his father.“If they’ve been hunting for someone and they finally figure out where they are, they’re going to get them,” said Tracy L. Hahn, a Columbus, Ohio-based security expert who retired after 32 years in law enforcement, including as deputy police chief at Ohio State University.

Funerals

Hahn said she knows agencies that have gone to funerals but have waited until afterward to engage the person. “There must be some extenuating reason that they felt the necessity to arrest him then instead of waiting if there was some risk component, an escape risk or something like that,” Hahn said. Family relatives aren’t so sure.

They say it only adds to their sense of disdain that the agencies involved have no duty to address their questions. “We want to know why you would do this in front of his family,” said Owens’ cousin, Mandy Swiger. “And what gives you the right to do it to an unarmed man? ” Acting U.S. Marshal Terry Moore said he couldn’t address questions during the inquiry and messages left with state police weren’t returned. It’s not known whether video exists from police bodycams, a police vehicle dashboard, or the funeral facility itself.

West Virginia rarely experiences the full incident reports and video recordings that are released in other cities after fatal police shootings—often within hours.

Unlike big cities where thorough incident reports and video footage are issued after deadly police shootings — sometimes within hours — that rarely happens in West Virginia. West Virginia law exempts police from having to release video material during an inquiry. And the U.S. Marshals Service office stated it did not prepare a thorough incident report regarding the shooting, citing the news release that excluded Owens’ name and other facts.

Owens had been in trouble with the law before. He was sentenced in 2018 to three to 13 years in jail for escaping a Harrison County sheriff’s deputy and trying to strangle him after a skirmish. He was freed on parole in April 2021. But Swiger said he committed a parole violation “for not checking in only once. And that’s why he told his mum after the burial he would turn himself in.” Whitecotton claimed she was enjoying a cigarette after the service when an SUV came racing down the side street where the hearse usually pulls off. “It about hit me, so I jumped back up on the curb and kind of looked at him like, ‘What’s your problem?’” she said.

White Truck With Plain Clothes Officer

A man in shorts and a T-shirt jumped out, leaving his door open. Swiger said a white truck with another plainclothes officer inside almost hit her mother’s vehicle as the truck sped into the parking lot. Swiger said Owens was shot from different directions and estimated as many as 40 people were in the area. She, too, said she didn’t see a gun in Owens’ hands. Some mourners instinctively rushed toward Owens after he fell to the ground, Swiger said, but was told by one of the officers, “You step back or I’ll shoot you. ”Whitecotton said she has lived in much larger cities such as Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth. “Never in my life have I dealt with anything like this,” she said. “I would expect it there, honestly. But not here.”

Jason Arnie Owens Age, Family, Early Life

Jason Arnie Owens’s birth date and Zodiac sign are not known. He holds an American nationality and he belongs to the white ethnic group. His actual birth date and Zodiac sign are unknown.

On Jason Arnie Owens’s parents, there is currently no information known.

Jason Arnie Owens Girlfriend/Wife, What about his Relationship?

There is nothing known about Jason Arnie Owens’s relationship. If we find any information about his relationship we will update you later.

Jason Arnie Owens Career, What is his profession?

There is no information available on the internet about Jason Arnie Owens’s professional career.

How much is Jason Arnie Owens Net Worth?

Jason Arnie Owens’s net worth has not yet been investigated in detail.

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Which school and college did he go to?

The name of the school Jason Arnie Owens attended and the topic he studied, however, is unknown.

Is he available on any kind of social media platform?

Unfortunately, Jason Arnie Owens does not seem to be available on social media.

Physical Appearance of Jason Arnie Owens’s Height, Weight

Interesting facts about Jason Arnie Owens’s should be known