A plainclothes officer followed Bell and his friends as Bell entered his vehicle. The officer ordered the driver to stop. Instead, Bell accelerated the car, colliding with an unmarked police minivan. Five officers then opened fire on the car, firing about 50 bullets into Bell's car, killing him and wounding his friends who were all unarmed.
"This man cares about human beings, this man cares about community," William Bell said during his endorsement of Adams. "He stood out there with me in the cold weather. Not too many people did...especially since he is an ex-cop...and that gave me a lot of belief in humanity."