NBC15 obtains newly unsealed bodycam video of deadly SWAT raid that killed 16-year-old
On November 13, 2023, at approximately 5:37 a.m. Mobile Police SWAT officers executed a knock-and-announce search warrant on the 3400 block of Sheringham Drive. Body camera video obtained by NBC15 shows officers gathering outside, approaching the front door and announcing themselves.
“Police, search warrant!” video audio shows.
Officers quickly make their way inside where body camera follows them through the first level of the home. Moments later, officers encounter 16-year-old Randall Adjessom, then gunfire. Randall was shot four times.
“Got multiple GSWs to the chest and abdomen. It’s going to be a civilian male.” police audio revealed.
Days after the shooting, Mobile Police said Randall pointed a handgun equipped with a laser at officers before he was shot as a response.
The November 2023 raid was part of a narcotics investigation involving Randall’s 18-year-old brother, Deangelo Adjessom. Court records show police had stopped Deangelo days earlier and found marijuana and a firearm. Police suspected him of marijuana distribution. Investigators later obtained a warrant to search the Sheringham Drive home, but court records say Deangelo did not live there, and he was not at the home when SWAT officers executed the warrant. Instead, it was his 16-year-old brother who officers encountered inside.
Randall's family was able to see the bodycam recordings for themselves the day after the shooting. Former Mobile city attorney Ricardo Woods was in the room when they watched the footage.
"I would tell you, it is tragic to see the loss of life, especially if you have parents who are grieving a young person. But, I think any time a father or a mother, or a brother or sister lose someone, you're going to fill the gravity of it," Woods said.
Randall’s death later became the subject of a federal wrongful-death lawsuit, with his family challenging the circumstances surrounding the raid and shooting. The body camera footage remained under seal during the case, until a federal judge ruled the public has a right to see it.
The Adjessom family’s federal lawsuit against the city of Mobile and the officers involved remains ongoing. The city has defended the officers’ actions, maintaining the shooting was justified because police say Randall pointed a gun at officers.
