OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) --Police continue to investigate an officer-involved shooting that killed a man Friday morning.
Today his friends are trying to piece together what happened.
Steven Harwood called his good friend Joshua Beebee a brother. They grew up together and were practically inseparable.
“He was loyal, if he was your friend he was your friend always,” said Harwood during an interview at his Lincoln home on Saturday.
Harwood said he never thought a conversation with Beebee a few days ago, would be their last.
“I didn’t have the chance to talk to him at all yesterday, otherwise things would have been different,” Harwood said.
On Friday morning, four Omaha police officers responded to 163rd Plaza and Maple Street, where they found 31-year-old Joshua Beebee walking in a field nearby, armed with an 11-inch kitchen knife.
Police says as they approached, Beebee ran.
One officer got in his patrol car and tried to cut off Beebee’s path, and as the officer got out of the car, police said Beebee turned to run at the officer.
That was when the officer fired 7 times, hitting Beebee. He succumb to his wounds at the hospital.
“I don’t feel the police were justified in killing anybody yesterday,” Harwood said.
Harwood said he wants his friend to be remembered for the good and the bad.
“He had a good heart man; he truly loved those who loved him.”
Beebee leaves behind three children, friends, and a family who misses him dearly.
“There’s a whole room full of people right now that don’t have their son, their brother, their dad,” Harwood said.
Per OPD policy, the officer who shot Beebee has been placed on administrative leave, while the investigation continues
OPD says they have video of the incident that justifies the actions of the officer who discharged his handgun.
