She said her son left her home Sunday morning. She tried calling him throughout the day, but her calls went to voicemail. She said she heard news reports of the police shooting and had been worried it might be him.

She said her son was living with her since his release from prison in January 2014. She said he wasn’t married and had an adult son. She said her son was on parole and was supposed to be working. He had been depressed lately because the jobs paid so poorly, she said.

“He was trying to find something better than minimum wage,” she said. “He wanted to find a better job.”

He worked for a temporary service, but the better offers were far from his mother’s home and he lacked a car for transportation, she said.

“He was struggling since he’s been out,” she said. “Sometimes I’d have to talk to him when he was getting kind of depressed.”

Ruth West said her son had to be tested for drugs with his parole officer, and at least one urine test showed that he been taking drugs, she said. She wasn’t sure what kind of drugs. She said he was sent to a rehab facility for a few months and also to jail for violating his parole.