WASHINGTON -
The family of a 26-year-old man shot in the back while handcuffed by a District Heights police officer is speaking out.
"This is terrible," says Kalvin Kyle's great-grandmother Barbara Lightfoot. "Why would they shoot him in his back while he's handcuffed?"
The shooting happened at the intersection of County Road and Foster Street. Police say Kyle tried to escape after stealing a motorcycle. Lightfoot doesn't buy that.
"They said he was running from them," says Lightfoot. "I said, ‘How far could he get with his hands tied behind him?"'
Kyle's sister, Shalonya Kyle, says there is a good reason why her brother was unlikely to try and get away from the police.
"He has rods in his legs," Shalonya Kyle says. "If there was a race between him and me, he would not win. He can't run far."
The family admits Kalvin Kyle has had run-ins with the law before. Court records show he has been convicted of armed robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and fleeing. Relatives say they still want answers about Thursday's shooting.
"I don't care what color you are, black, red, green or anything, nothing should happen to nobody like that," Lightfoot says. "He was no threat to them."
Kalvin Kyle is in serious by stable condition.
Sgt. Johnnie Riley, an eight-year department veteran, is on leave while investigators look into the shooting.
