The Thanksgiving night shooting death of a 21-year-old Hueytown man at the hands of Hoover police inside the Riverchase Galleria has led to widespread speculation about what happened and demands from protesters that more information be released, but it’s not likely the facts will be made public any time soon.

“It could be anywhere from two months to a year,’’ said Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr. “It really just depends on the agency.”

The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night on the second floor of the Riverchase Galleria. Hoover police said an argument between several young men led to gunfire. Brian Wilson, 18, was wounded, as was bystander 12-year-old Molly Davis, who took a bullet to the back. Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford Jr. was shot by a Hoover police officer, who was in uniform and on-duty as part of a beefed-up holiday shopping detail.

Bradford was pronounced dead on the scene. Eight other people were treated by paramedics for injuries sustained while fleeing the gunfire.

Authorities said the incident began with an altercation between Bradford and his friend – Wilson - and at least two other young men. Police initially said Bradford was the person who shot Wilson and Molly, but a day after that shooting, retracted that statement to say he was involved in the initial altercation and brandishing a handgun but did not fire the shots that wounded the other two victims. City officials later apologized in a private meeting with Bradford’s family for saying he was the person who shot the other victims.

Six days after Bradford’s death, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office issued an attempted murder warrant against 20-year-old Erron Martez Dequan Brown. He is charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Wilson. Brown’s attorney, Charles Salvagio, has said his client is not guilty.

As is policy for most law enforcement agencies, Hoover immediately requested an outside agency be brought in to investigate the officer-involved shooting. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene within the hour and immediately began interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence.

Then-District Attorney Mike Anderton received information that a potential witness in the case was a cousin of Sheriff-Elect Mark Pettway, and the case was then reassigned to the State Bureau of Investigation, which handles a majority of the officer-involved shooting probes statewide.

Despite calls for release of any video footage of the shooting and any additional details, SBI officials have said to do so could hinder the probe. Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary Hal Taylor emphasized it is imperative for the integrity of any criminal investigation conducted by ALEA that information obtained by the State Bureau of Investigation agents be kept confidential until an investigation is officially closed, and a report is made to the appropriate prosecuting authority.

Carr said he has limited interaction with SBI during the ongoing investigation. “Once they feel like they’ve thoroughly investigated the case, they will present it to our office,’’ he said.

At that point there are several options: Carr could rule the officer-involved shooting was justifiable and that would be the end of any criminal case. Second, the district attorney could deem there was wrongdoing and file criminal charges against the officer. Thirdly, the case could instead be presented to a Jefferson County grand jury where 18 citizens would decide whether the officer would or would not be indicted.

Even if the officer were to be charged, the case would still go to a grand jury because all felony charges must be affirmed through grand jury proceedings.

In Jefferson County in recent memory, only two officers have been criminally charged in officer-involved shootings.

In 2011, a Birmingham police officer shot a man during an altercation at the Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport.

The shooting happened at 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 17, 2011, after an exchange between Officer Manuel Richard Diaz Jr. and businessman Mark Wittman outside an airport concourse.

Diaz was assigned to maintain traffic flow in the passenger pick-up area. Wittman, who works for a company called Legal Shield, testified that he was in a hurry to pick up a guest speaker for a conference he was coordinating.

Wittman, driving a red Dodge Charger, waited in his car in the pickup area. Diaz approached the car but walked away after a quick, cordial conversation.

Wittman said he knew he wasn't going to be able to wait there for very long, and Diaz soon returned to tell him to move the car. Photos from the scene later shown in court depicted the tire marks Wittman left behind when he accelerated.

Diaz called an officer working near the parking deck to let him know to be on the lookout for the red Charger because he wanted to write him up for reckless driving. Wittman drove back through to pick up his passengers, and Diaz stepped off the walkway with his hand held up, gesturing for Wittman to stop.

Diaz fired five shots toward Wittman's car, and a bullet that went through the window grazed Wittman's face. He was taken to UAB Hospital the night of the shooting and released the next day.

The case was investigated by SBI and nine months later - on Aug. 16, 2012 – a grand jury indicted the officer on charges of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle and third-degree assault. On Jan. 15, 2013, Diaz was found not guilty by the jury of 10 men and two women, who took only 20 minutes to reach the verdict.

There have been 11 fatal officer-involved shootings in Jefferson in the past nearly three years, including Bradford. Of the 11 people killed by police in the past nearly three years, seven were white males, three were black males and one was a white female.

Eight different law enforcement agencies were responsible for the shootings: the Irondale Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, the Homewood Police Department, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the Leeds Police Department, the Birmingham Police Department, Alabama State Troopers and the Hoover Police Department.

While the death of Bradford remains under investigation, the other 10 were ruled justifiable by outside law enforcement agencies. None of those 10 cases were presented to a grand jury.

Former Birmingham Police Officer Charles Forbes is the only law enforcement in Jefferson County in recent memory to be convicted in a fatal officer involved shooting.

The shooting happened when Forbes was on patrol in the 1200 block of 29th Street North when he saw four men congregating around a van. The officer circled the block and approached, suspicious that a drug deal had taken place.

Forbes, who is black, told the group to disperse. Two of the men complied, but Davis and another man didn’t. Forbes got out of his car and asked Davis to leave, but Davis cursed the officer and refused to go. Forbes then tried to arrest Davis and as he tried to handcuff the man, Davis hit him in the face. After a fight, in which Forbes claims Davis pummeled him and tried to get this gun, Forbes pulled his 9 mm Beretta and shot Davis three times.

Davis, wounded in the leg, arm and should, ran 182 feet and collapsed. Forbes chases him. Witness testimony differed about the events that followed, but several witnesses said Forbes chased Davis and, seeing him collapsed face down, stood over him and fired a shot into his back.

Forbes has said he could not remember whether he shot Davis in the back, or even if he fired any more shots after the original fight.

The killing outraged many in Davis’ Norwood community.

Forbes, who had been on the force for about four years, was charged with murder in Davis’ death. A jury ultimately convicted him of manslaughter and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Forbes’ arrest and conviction also outraged many police officers, who felt police and city officials abandoned Forbes.

In 2000, at the age of 37, Forbes was released from prison after serving three years and two months.

There have been several high-profile fatal officer-involved shootings in recent years statewide.

A Montgomery police officer was arrested and charged with murder on March 2, 2016, six days after he fatally shot a man while on patrol. Aaron C. Smith, who is white, was accused of fatally shooting Gregory Gunn, who is black, at around 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 25 in Gunn’s west Montgomery neighborhood of Mobile Heights. The State Bureau of Investigation investigated.

Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley initially said the incident began after Smith stopped to talk to a "suspicious" person, later identified as Gunn, and an altercation ensued. It was initially reported Gunn was armed with a long pole.

A state investigator later testified that Gunn was Tased three times, beaten with a baton and shot five times by Smith. Smith fired seven shots. The pole didn’t have Gunn’s fingerprints on it, the investigator said.

There was no video of the incident. Smith didn’t turn on his body camera and his dash camera in his police cruiser wasn’t operating. Smith sought immunity in the case as he claimed the shooting was in self-defense. He is still awaiting trial.

Just four months after Huntsville policeman William Darby fatally shot 49-year-old Jeffrey Parker at a north Huntsville home, the officer had been indicted on a murder charge.

The shooting happened April 3 when Parker called police to report that he was suicidal and armed, the authorities said. At the scene, Darby ordered Parker to drop the gun, the police department said. When Parker didn’t follow orders, Darby shot him, the department said.

In May, about a month after the shooting, the Huntsville police department — which investigates its own officer-involved shootings — cleared Darby of any wrongdoing and called the killing justified.

In early August, a Madison County grand jury issued a murder indictment against Darby, a 25-year-old officer with about two years of experience on the local police force. Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard said his office took the case to a grand jury because prosecutors were “gravely concerned” about whether the shooting was justified.

Darby’s trial is scheduled in April 2019, about a year after the fatal shooting. It’s unclear whether the case will be continued. Murder cases often take years to prosecute.

Last year, it took state investigators about three months to probe the case of a small-town police officer who fatally shot a teenager during a chase that ended with a crash in Huntsville on July 7, 2017.

Priceville policeman Bryan Smith killed 15-year-old Gabriel Sage Barnes after a chase that began at a gas station along Interstate 65 in Morgan County. Police said Barnes, of Tennessee, was driving a stolen Mustang at speeds over 100 mph when Smith started chasing the teen in Priceville.

The chase ended more than 30 miles away at the Bob Wallace exit off Interstate 565 in Huntsville when Barnes crashed the Mustang. The Priceville police department said Smith shot Barnes after the teen backed into the officer’s patrol vehicle. The police said Barnes’ life was in danger.

In mid-October, a little more than three months after the deadly encounter, the Madison County district attorney’s office said it wouldn’t pursue charges against Smith, based on the findings of the state investigation. Prosecutors said the shooting was “clearly justified.”

Carr said he understands that the public, and the protesters, want answers.

“Investigations take time but most of these cases are a marathon, not a sprint,’’ Carr said. “If we’re searching for the truth, we need to allow them to do their investigation.”

AL.com reporters Ashley Remkus and Erin Edgemon contributed to this report.