Created: 6/18/2009 6:45:13 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A group of religious leaders wants to stop what it calls questionable shootings by police officers. This comes following the 5th fatal police shooting this year.
Twenty-four year-old Kiko Battle was shot 9 times Monday afternoon by an off-duty officer. Investigators say he was a convicted felon who pointed a stolen gun at an officer. His family however, says the story by police doesn't add up.
The Baptist Ministers Conference of Duval and Adjacent Counties gathered today with other concerned residents. They are calling for a full investigation.
"We want the killing to stop. There have been too many killings and it's time to bring it to an end," said Dr. C. Edward Preston, President of Baptist Ministers Conference.
Preston says they are not endorsing crime but they believe too many people are getting killed after they've been arrested. He says after talking to witnesses on the scene of the latest police involved shooting, he says there's no reason Kiko Battle should have been shot 9 times.
"Some of the family members were there; eyewitnesses, and they were begging the officers not to shoot the man again on the ground; but the officer kept shooting. So what we're saying is that kind of stuff shouldn't be happening."
There have been 8 police involved shootings this year and five were fatal.
The group is calling for a full investigation by the state and perhaps the federal government. Battle's Uncle Wallace Eberhart wants someone outside of J.S.O. to look into the recent police involved shootings to see if there were justified. "We need more oversight. We need outside hands to handle inside problems. This is an inside, ongoing problem. It's going to continue to be ongoing if we can't get outside help here."
The group is requesting a meeting with Sheriff John Rutherford. They say if that doesn't happen soon they will go to the state attorney.
©2009 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.
