Mourners and activists gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday for the funeral of Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr, a 21-year-old black man who was shot and killed by police.

Friends described the former army recruit as considerate and fun-loving. His father said he was a “good child” who took care of him when he fell ill.

“It’s hard because in the back of my mind I see him all the time,” said EJ Bradford Sr, describing his son, as a baby, falling asleep on his chest. “When I got sick I knew then my son turned a corner … The shoe was on the other foot. He started taking care of me.

“My child was a good child and I loved the conversations we used to have all the time. The years I had with him were 21 good years.”

Bradford was shot in the face by a Hoover, Alabama, police officer on the evening of Thanksgiving, shortly after a gunman injured an 18-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl on the second floor of the Riverchase Galleria mall.

According to the Bradford family’s attorney, the civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, Bradford was shot within “milliseconds” of police arriving on the scene, as the shooter escaped. A suspect was arrested two days ago, local media reported.

In the hours after Bradford’s death, Hoover police accused him of “brandishing” a gun and described the officer who shot him as “heroic”. That statement was retracted.

The case has prompted criticism of the police regarding alleged racial bias and raised questions about whether African American men can ever safely be perceived as a “good guy with a gun”, the kind of armed civilian gun rights groups say should respond when shootings occur.

At least one other case of the use of excessive force by Alabama police has made national headlines this year. In April, police in Saraland left a black women topless on the floor of a diner during a violent arrest that was caught on video.

Bradford’s death has inflamed racial tensions in Birmingham. Protesters have called for body camera footage of the shooting to be released. State police have said they will not release the video while an investigation is taking place, according to local media.

On Friday, protesters held a vigil and “die-in” for Bradford at the Riverchase mall. The vigil was briefly interrupted by a white man who asked why protesters weren’t worried about “the white girl” who was injured.

“Without protests we can’t advance the kingdom,” said Pastor Mike McClure Jr, leading Saturday’s funeral. “We may not like how they do it, we may not understand it, but when my grandfather sat in Woolworth’s, he was shaking some stuff up.”

That was a reference to lunch counter sit-ins that took place across the south in the 1960s, protesting legalized segregation.

Bradford’s parents were accompanied to the funeral, at which the casket was open, by the Rev Jesse Jackson, a veteran of the civil rights movement. Soon after the ceremony started, Bradford’s mother, April Pipkins, was overcome with grief and had to be assisted out of the auditorium. She later returned.

In eulogizing Bradford, Jackson said he joined “the victims of racial violence across the US”.

“The list of victims of this sickness of uncontrolled violence fueled by racism and political indifference is much too long,” said Jackson. “The officer who took Emantic’s life and snuffed out his dream must face justice.”

“We demand equal protection under the law. We want a full and thorough investigation,” said Jackson. “We want to see the tapes now.”

On Saturday, Bradford’s father said he would hold on to the memories of his son.

“I got the good memories, and they’re not gonna go nowhere,” he said.