Victim's mom and neighbors react to police shooting

"I just can't believe it," said Demetrius Bennett's mother Ivory Bennett.

Bennett lives next door to her son.  She says she heard the commotion, could taste the pepper spray in air, and then "I heard all them gun shots, I knew my baby was dead," said Bennett.

Other people who live in the area say the neighborhood has had its share of problems, but this is the worst.

"It's kind of scary that this happened here," said Andres Mudrano, who's dad lives near the shooting.

It's left many on guard.  "It just happened so close to home, you just have to be careful," said Adrian Camacho, who lives near the shooting.

But Ivory Bennett doesn't think her son ever should have been shot dead.

"They still didn't have the right to kill him, they could have disabled him," said Bennett.

She also doesn't believe he was using his own son as a shield, and says Demetrius is always holding his children, playing games with them.

"He didn't use his baby as no shield," said Bennett.  "He always hold his baby in his arms like that."

Recent court records show Bennett has had a history of domestic violence dating back to 2008.

He was recently in court in February of this year and issued an order of protection brought against him by Amanda Armbrsuter, the mother of the two children that were in the home with him Thursday morning.

"It's a tragedy that this has happened, and my heart goes out to the families of anyone involved," said nearby neighbor Jeffrey Denning.

The events Thursday morning have some Rockford residents worried the city is heading further down the wrong track.

"Things are getting worse, I don't know what's causing it, but yeah I think there's a problem," said Mudrano.

But for Ivory Bennett, the shooting is an example of police misusing their power.

"I feel that it's just another one of those cases they're just trigger happy, that's all, just wanna put another mark on their belt, that's it," said Bennett.