Alabama police have backtracked further from their claims about Emantic Bradford Jr., who was initially described as an active shooter after an officer killed him in a suburban Birmingham shopping mall on Thanksgiving evening.

In an apologetic statement the next day, police said the actual gunman had apparently escaped the Riverchase Galleria — but still maintained that Bradford, 21, ‘‘was fleeing the shooting scene while brandishing a handgun’’ when an officer shot him in a corridor outside the JCPenney store.

In a third statement Monday, police raised doubts about whether Bradford even had his gun out when officers encountered him.

The Hoover Police Department’s shifting explanations are likely to increase suspicions that the 21-year-old former Army recruit was considered a threat because he is black. It’s still unclear what set off the mall violence shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday.

Washington Post