Mother of young man killed by deputies at a West Palm Beach credit union still wondering

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Kim Vazquez remembers what she said on the phone to her son Chris Thompson, after a friend called on February 10th to say he was on his way to rob a bank.

"Whatever is going on, or whatever you're thinking, it can be fixed. Come home," Vazquez said.

His response: "'Mom, no matter what, 'I love you.' He hung up and that was it," recalled Vazquez.

His mom wonders 'why?'

Why would an 18-year-old take a gun to a credit union, call the police on himself, fire at the arriving deputies, then say "thank you" as he lay dying?

"Something led him to do what he did that day," said Vazquez.

Vazquez said she believes her son had information against someone who was coming after him.

In their investigation, the state attorney's office said a friend told them that Thompson owed money to a man in Alabama - the state where his father lives - and where Thompson was planning on moving.

"I think he was trying to protect us," Vazquez said.

She said he had good grades at Palm Beach State, that a doctor had just given him a clean bill of health and that he seemed to be looking forward to living with his grandparents in Alabama.

Only one thing has been harder on Vazquez than not knowing why her son went to the bank with a gun on February 10th.

"He can't talk to me. He can't tell me anything anymore. It's the hardest thing to walk in this house and not have your son be here," she said.

She said she did not hear from the state attorney's office about what their investigation found.

We placed a late call to the state attorney's office Wednesday evening that was not immediately returned.