Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officer on Tuesday morning. The killing, which was captured on cell phone video, happened outside of a convenience store. From The Advocate:
East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark said the initial results of an autopsy performed Tuesday show Sterling died due to a homicide and suffered multiple — meaning more than two — gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
A 48-second cellphone video captured by a bystander — which circulated at a protest about the shooting later in the day — shows an officer firing at least one round into a man’s chest outside what appears to be the Triple S store, followed by the sound of at least four more shots as the camera veers away.
You can watch the video below.
Please be warned that the following footage is graphic.
At the time of the shooting, Sterling was pinned down by police officers, with one officer "pulling [his] left arm down while he pressed down on [his chest]." Witnesses, including the owner of the convenience store, say that while Sterling was armed, he was neither holding nor reaching for his gun when he was killed. He was restrained at the time he was shot. From The Advocate:
“He’s got a gun! Gun,” an officer says, prompting the lawman closest to the camera to draw an object from his holster.
“You f*****g move, I swear to God,” says an officer, before the second officer, farther from the viewer, is seen pointing a weapon down at the man’s chest.
There’s a flash from that officer’s weapon, accompanied by the sound of shots.
“They shot him?” a man’s harried voice, close to the microphone, says in the video.
“Yes!” a weeping woman replies.
Witnesses say that police were aggressive and that Sterling posed no threat at the time of the shooting.
“His hand was nowhere (near) his pocket,” [store owner Abdullah] Muflahi said, adding that Sterling wasn’t holding a weapon. After the shooting, an officer reached into Sterling’s pocket and retrieved a handgun, Muflahi said.
“They were really aggressive with him from the start,” Muflahi said about the officers.
Sterling appeared to die quickly, Muflahi said. Just after the killing, the officer who fired the bullets cursed, and both officers seemed like they were “freaking out,” Muflahi said.
The store owner said he heard one of the officers say, “Just leave him.”
Unbelievably, both officers had body cameras on, but "both body cameras came loose and dangled from the officers’ uniforms during the incident," according to Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely.
Reports also say that officers have "likely" not been interviewed by investigators, since the Baton Rouge Police Department usually gives law enforcement officers a 24-hour reprieve before questioning them. From The Advocate:
“We give officers normally a day or so to go home and think about it” before being interviewed, McKneely said. He said being part of a shooting is a stressful situation that can produce “tunnel vision” for the officers involved and might not lead to the best information.
Updates as the story progresses. Discuss below.