after they confronted crawford. one of these is a real gun and one was the gun crawford was carrying that day. as you can see, it s very hard to tell the difference. reporter: crawford was holding a pellet gun he picked up from a store shelf, not a rifle. in september, a grand jury chose not to indict the officers on any charges. the family is now filing a federal lawsuit against police and walmart. saying the pellet gun should have been locked up and police should have done due diligence before opening fire. the city responded with this statement. we believe the efrd will prove that the officer s actions were legally justified. walmart expressed condolences and said, quote, our associates acted properly. i m still pursuing justice because that, to me, is justice. you have to be held accountable. you don t get a pass because you have a side arm and a shield. reporter: crawford s family said he wasn t a criminal, he
i don t know any other way to tell you. what happened there wasn t a good thing and as a result of his actions, he is gone. ana cabrera joining us now. lawyer saying the interrogation was inappropriate. did the detective have an explanation for how he went on the interrogation? reporter: first of all, police say there was no koergs. the detective said he was questioning thomas based on the information he was given from police on the scene of the shooting and he said they initially did think that crawford was carrying a real rifle and that he had brought it into the store, and so he says in his questioning of thomas, he really was just searching for answers, anderson. all right, ana cabrera. cnn legal analyst and former cnn, sunny hostin. police allowed to interrogate somebody as long as they ve read miranda rights and informed what s going on, they re allowed to lie or do anything in an
Transcripts for CNN Anderson Cooper 360 20141217 01:36:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
i don t know. on everything i love, you can give me a lie detector test and everything. reporter: just newly released video from the interrogation room. rodney kurt grills tasha thomas, the girlfriend of john crawford iii. it s just minutes after police opened fire killing crawford inside an ohio walmart. why would he have a gun in the walmart? i don t know. reporter: this is the incident all caught on camera, surveillance video on august 5th shows crawford wandering the aisles, talking on the phone and carrying what looks like a rifle. a concerned customer called 9-1-1 and police responded. holding a gun. pointing it. i m in the walmart. did you say he s pointing it at people? affirmative, no. reporter: crawford s family argues crawford never had a chance. the video shows he had back to police and was on the phone when they approached and the officers opened fire just one second