Kevin Hargraves-Shird was loved; that much was made apparent by the crowd of about 150 supporters honoring his life at Tuesday’s vigil.

Standing in Fort Slocum Park in the Brightwood Park neighborhood — the same place Hargraves-Shird, 31, was shot just days earlier — loved ones came to the center of the crowd and held one another to share story after story about Hargraves-Shird. As the sun set in the distance and sage burned in his honor, one thing was clear: his community wanted the world to know Hargraves-Shird beyond the police’s narrative of the final day of his life.

“This is the result of Kevin,” one of his sisters, Nkechi Feaster, said as she gestured to the crowd. “This is the result of his leadership. This is the result of love. This is the result of his strength. Keep this in mind when they start saying other things. This is Kevin right here.”

On Saturday, July 30, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said that one of its officers shot and killed Hargraves-Shird near 2nd Place and Madison Street NW. Police claim Hargraves-Shird was connected to an earlier shooting, and that he was armed when an officer shot him.

However, police haven’t explained how or whether he pointed a weapon at the officer, citing an ongoing investigation. Police also misspelled his name when they first issued its press release, which some found disrespectful. Hargraves-Shird’s family, who watched the officer’s body-camera footage on Monday, have disputed the police accounts. An individual who says he was at the park the day of the shooting and heard the gunshot that presumably killed Hargraves-Shird also questions the police accounts.

“Once you guys see this [footage], you will stand with us in solidarity,” his sister Serena Hargraves told DCist/WAMU after the vigil. “There was no reason for my brother’s shooting. There was no reason at all for him to do what he did. There were no commands given. There was no interaction between my brother and the officer at all. And I know that’s hard to understand or explain with what they put out in the public.”

Under D.C. law, the MPD must release the body-camera footage and the officer’s name to the public within five business days, unless the family requests otherwise. Hargraves-Shird’s family supports the release of the footage, as they believe it will bring greater clarity to the events that preceded his death.

Family and friends of Hargraves-Shird believe police have so far sullied his name, and they wanted to use Tuesday night’s vigil to correct the record. His friends, parents, co-parents, and siblings shared sentiments and memories of a complex man who sometimes went by the nickname “Smoke.” Hargraves-Shird was described by many as strong, as a family man, and as a beloved sibling and son.

Amber Smith, mother of their son Khalil, recounted how much her son loved Hargraves-Shird.

“It just hurt my heart to see my son hurt…Nobody deserves to be robbed of their lives. The way that he was robbed of his life,” Smith said, her voice breaking. She gestured the microphone towards her son, but he shook his head, unable to speak to the crowd. He just held his mom as she continued. “Everybody just keep Kevin’s kids and family uplifted in y’alls prayers cause they definitely will need it.”

Yet, mixed between the tears was laughter and dancing. “Let this be a celebration of his life,” said Nee Nee Taylor of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, a local Black-led abolitionist group fighting state-sanctioned violence. With Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” playing, the candle-lit crowd looked skyward at the blue and black balloons drifting up towards the clouds.

“Kevin was a family man who kept his children, his family very close,” Serena Hargraves said at the vigil. “He mentored the neighborhood kids. He was honest with everyone who helped anyone…Kevin’s character was hilarious. He was known for cheering people up and be there for everyone in their time of need.”

A man named George Tobias, a former military officer, says he was at Fort Slocum Park the afternoon of the fatal shooting. He says he heard the gunshot that killed Hargraves-Shird, but he did not hear a command or shout of “gun, gun, gun” as police have claimed. He did not see the shooting, but believes he was within earshot, about 25 feet from where Hargraves-Shird fell to the ground, face down. Just before the shooting, Tobias says he heard the brakes screech on the car that Hargraves-Shird and at least two other men fled from.

“I’m not saying that there wasn’t a command. I’m just saying I didn’t hear one,” he says. He also shared two photos of the crime scene. In one photo, you can spot several police officers, cop cars, and yellow tape, as well as what Tobias described as bandages from when the police attempted to offer Hargraves-Shird first aid after he was shot. The photo also shows a deflated bounce house.

Tobias says he and some friends had been at the park to say farewell to a friend who was leaving D.C. There were just over a dozen children at the park that day, hence the bounce house. “From my point of view — and I told all the police this, I told internal affairs this — that was like wildly irresponsible to shoot at someone in that scenario.” says Tobias. “There’s a whole range of other scenarios, such as the person turns around to shoot back at you and now you have an exchange of gunfire right in the vicinity of a bunch of kids.”

DCist/WAMU reached out to the MPD to confirm Tobias’ accounts, but spokesperson Alaina Gertz said in an email that the department is “unwilling to confirm witness information in any investigation.”

Local groups helping to support the family, including Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Community Shoulders, want to know whether the officer involved in the shooting has ever used “unreasonable force” prior to Saturday, or if the officer knew Hargraves-Shird before shooting him. The groups are demanding more transparency and accountability, and they say Saturday’s incident is part of a larger pattern of police using excessive or deadly force against Black men.

Groups are also providing support to the family of another man shot by D.C. police, Lazarus Wilson. On July 16, Commander Jason Bagshaw, who is known by some community members for aggressive tactics, fatally shot Wilson while off duty. The officer claims he saw the 23-year-old brandishing a gun. Taylor of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams shared that their long-term goal in both Wilson and Hargraves-Shird’s cases is to have the officers fired.

“We’re asking for D.C. police department to be defunded,” Taylor told DCist/WAMU. She said that those funds could instead be used for other programs and organizations to support the community, like her group’s upcoming Harm Reduction Center. Overall, their effort is to shift community safety to being proactive instead of reactive in order to better protect Black lives.

Tuesday’s vigil was representative of that mission. “This what freedom looks like to us because we keep each other safe,” Taylor said. In her closing speech, Taylor led a call and response with the crowd, emphasizing that safety comes from within the community. “Who keeps us safe?” “We keep us safe!” the crowd shouted back. It remained a safe space throughout the rest of the night, as friends and family continued to grieve and share love.