A total of nine shots were fired during the Feb. 5 police chase that ended in Anthony Childs' death.

Forensic evidence showed Officer Traveion Brooks fired eight shots and three of the bullets hit 31-year-old Childs. Childs shot one bullet into his own chest. That was the shot that killed him, according to the coroner.

Who fired the first shot, Brooks or Childs, has been a subject of controversy. The coroner said he doesn't know the answer and the first two shots occurred almost simultaneously. Brooks alleged Childs shot himself first, according to Shreveport Police Department's spokeswoman.

In addition to the question as to whether Childs shot himself first or not, people have asked if Brooks was justified in confronting Childs in the first place.

When it was learned Brooks attempted to stop Childs because Childs' pants were below waist level with underwear exposed, many were reminded of the sagging pants ordinance that was passed more than a decade ago. SPD spokeswoman Christina Curtis said 726 people have been issued a summons or have been taken into custody for violating the sagging pants ordinance since it passed in 2007.

City Councilwoman LeVette Fuller and an attorney drafted legislation Wednesday to abolish the sagging pants law. Fuller said stopping people for sagging pants is like police pulling drivers over for a traffic stop because of a broken tail light.

“We are treating people’s bodies like a broken taillight," she said.

Fuller's repeal of the sagging pants ordinance is on the agenda for the next City Council meeting. She introduced the ordinance after members of the community complained they aren't satisfied with officials' answers.

Citizens and family members of Childs came to City Council meetings complaining they were left in the dark. The coroner's office, the DA's office and SPD sent press releases during the course of the investigation, but who shot the first bullet still isn't clear.

"Forensic evidence was consistent with eight shots being fired by Officer Brooks, three of which struck Mr. Childs, each fired at a distant range and nonlethal. The self-inflicted gunshot wound to Mr. Childs' chest was a near-contact wound and was the fatal shot," a late-March statement from the coroner reads.

The statement announcing the coroner's findings were repeated in a statement from the District Attorney's Office when the DA sent out a notification saying he wouldn't be reviewing the case. The statement says Childs produced a handgun when confronted by the officer, but it doesn't say at which point he fired.

"Officer Brooks attempted to detain Childs, who fled, and when confronted by the officer, produced a handgun. During this confrontation, Mr. Childs shot himself in the chest," the DA's statement reads.

The statement didn't say whether Childs shot himself in the chest before Brooks shot him or after because the coroner doesn't know.

"The statement that we can make with certainty is that in the first round of shooting, two shots were fired, one by officer Brooks and one by Mr. Childs," Caddo Parish Coroner Todd Thoma wrote in an e-mail. "The shots were very close together and I can't tell you whether the first shot was fired by Mr. Childs or Officer Brooks,"

John Prime, who is the public information officer for both the coroner's office and the DA's office, said the shots were fired around the same time.

"The two shots were fired almost simultaneously as I recall. So if Childs fired first he was standing but about to go down. If the officer fired first, same thing," Prime said.

As for the question if Childs was on the ground when he was shot, Wednesday, the coroner told The Times Childs was on the ground when Brooks shot him.

"In the second volley three shots were fired. According to the officer's testimony this occurred while Mr. Childs was on the ground rolling with a gun in his hand," Thoma wrote. "The third volley consisted of four shots all fired by Officer Brooks. According to his testimony all of the shots were fired while Mr. Childs was on the ground with a gun in his hand. Some time during the last seven shots Mr. Childs was struck three times by Officer Brooks. There is no way to determine which shots missed and which shots hit."

Prime further clarified the coroner's explanation saying the shots were fired in three sequences. In the first sequence, two shots were fired, one by Brooks and one by Childs while they were both standing. In the second burst of three shots all from Brooks, Childs was on the ground. In the third sequence, Brooks fired four shots again while Childs was on the ground.

"Shots were fired in three sequences. First sequence: two shots fired, one by the officer, one by Childs, both standing," Prime wrote The Times in an e-mail. "Second burst: three shots, all by the officer while Childs was on the ground, moving but still in possession of his firearm. Third sequence: four shots fired by the officer, again while Childs was on the ground but still possessed his weapon."

Prime provided additional information about Police Chief Ben Raymond's comments at an initial meeting about the shooting.

"At the first meeting, Chief Raymond states that the second officer arriving at the scene kicked the handgun out of Mr. Childs’ hand," Prime wrote. "You will have to verify with Chief Raymond, but it is my understanding that an offender who is still moving and is in possession of a weapon still poses a threat to the officer and the public."

A family friend of Childs, Brian Wilcox, said when asked at a community meeting at the Winnfield Funeral Home, officials couldn't answer whether a trajectory test was done in the investigation to determine whether Childs was on the ground or standing when he was shot.

A trajectory test determines the flight path of a bullet. The Times asked Prime Wednesday whether a trajectory test was done, but he directed the question to other departments.

"That is a question for SPD or the crime lab, not the coroner's office," Prime said.

Shreveport Police Department's Public Information Officer Christina Curtis said she didn't know if a trajectory test was done but she would get The Times an answer Thursday morning.