Protestors shut down Titusville City Council meeting, after officer-involved shooting kills man

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Calls for accountability and answers are growing after an officer involved shooting in Titusville.

Tuesday’s city council meeting was shut down by protestors asking for the police chief to be fired.

Many members of the public were outraged by the shooting on Friday night when a man was killed by Titusville police who were responding to a "suspicious call".

26-year-old Tri-Marea Rayquan Charles

The mayor of Titusville is still standing behind the police chief and says he has full faith in John Lau. Andrew Connors does not support removing him from his position, despite people asking for that at the heated city meeting.

He says he understands the frustration, but his hands are tied until FDLE finishes the investigation.

What they're saying:

"Fire that narcissist called Chief John Lau," said Robin Dennis who made public comments at the city council meeting.

The victim’s mom also attended the meeting, begging for answers.
"I haven’t seen my son body at all since he been murdered by TPD, no answers," said Samantha Charles.
She’s demanding to see her son, Tri-Marea’s, body.
"I need answers," said the grieving mother. "Why was I not allowed to see him, to ID him?"

On Wednesday, the mayor of Titusville said he’s trying to help the mother with her requests.
"The son is with the medical examiner," said Mayor Connors. "We know folks that are willing to drive her down there to see her son, to make those accommodations so that she can hopefully get the closure that she needs."

All Titusville police are telling the public right now is they responded to Robbins Avenue around 9:15 p.m. to investigate a "suspicious call" Police say the man they shot had a gun, and shots were fired.

So far, police have not released whether or not they recovered a weapon and how many times the man was shot.

"I’m still a grieving mom, no matter what the situation, that’s my child that got murdered," said Charles.

As public outrage intensifies, the mayor is still standing behind Chief John Lau.

"Titusville has been through this before, and he has been utmost transparent," concluded Mayor Connors.

A community meeting is happening Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Gibson Center. The NAACP is hosting the event.

The mayor says he will be there but says he won't be able to give the public the information they're likely going to ask for.