California police shoots and critically wounds man who witnesses say was unarmed with hands showing
California police shoots and critically wounds man who witnesses say was unarmed with hands showing : San Diego-area police critically wounded a man who witnesses said was unarmed with his hands in the air Tuesday afternoon.
Gunfire rang out around 2 p.m. local time in a parking lot at the Broadway Village Shopping Center in El Cajon, Calif., cops said. Witnesses and family members said that the as-yet-unidentified man shot by police is a mentally-challenged black man.
The man didn’t follow orders when officers arrived on the scene, El Cajon police spokesman Rob Ransweiler told reporters at a news conference. The officers showed up at Broadway and N. Mollison Ave. after three separate radio calls reporting the man’s “erratic” behavior, Ransweiler said, adding he was “walking in traffic, that kind of stuff.”
Ransweiler said a single officer opened fire. The unidentified victim was rushed to a hospital where he was in critical condition Tuesday evening.
It was not immediately clear if the victim was armed when he was shot. Ransweiler disputed witness accounts the man had his hands in the air, adding he was “confident that the community will support the decision made by the officer.”
“The investigation just started, but based on the video voluntarily provided by a witness, the subject did NOT have his hands up in the air,” El Cajon police said on Twitter late Tuesday.
Nonetheless, several dozen people gathered at the scene of the shooting roughly 15 miles outside San Diego. Many cursed at officers guarding the scene and video showed several protesters at one point pushing through police tape.
Sister of victim angry with police- speaking now to investigators. #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/59PsDxCaSV
— Ashley Matthews (@ashleyNBC7) 27 September 2016
An employee at a nearby restaurant said her colleague voluntarily turned over a cell phone with video of the shooting to police.
A Facebook user said a crying woman seen wearing a nurse’s uniform in a Facebook Live broadcast from the scene had made the original 911 calls Tuesday.
“OK, so the police did it again, y’all,” the Facebook user said in the video. “They shot another unarmed black person, as usual. And the lady is saying she called them for help, not to kill her brother, and they shot her brother.”
The wounded man’s sister identified him as 30-year-old Alfred Olango.
“I called for help, I didn’t call for you guys to kill him!” she screamed. “Oh my God, you killed my brother!”
The Facebook user who posted the video said the victim had “supposedly” taken something out of his pocket before the officers shot him.
“Why couldn’t you guys Tase him? Why, why, why, why?” the wounded man’s sister yelled. “Why couldn’t you Tase him? I told them he’s sick.”
An eyewitness told the San Diego-Tribune the victim was shirtless and had his hands up when an officer began firing.
“(The officer) let go of the trigger and shot him again and again,” Michael Ray Rodriguez told the local paper, adding he heard about five shots.
People chanting “Black Lives Matter” over “All Lives Matter” #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/WDhAfThqY7
— Ashley Matthews (@ashleyNBC7) 28 September 2016
The San Diego ACLU chapter said it’s too early to condemn the officer who opened fire, but blasted the El Cajon police department for seizing eyewitnesses’ cellphones.
“By seizing phones, police would likely be preventing the dissemination of video captured by bystanders,” the organization said in a statement. “The public has the right to film police in public places, and police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your digital photos or video without a warrant.”
The shooting happened a week after Charlotte, N.C., police fatally shot 43-year-old black man Keith Lamont Scott. Investigators said Scott was armed and posed a threat, but violent protests erupted when members of Scott’s family said he didn’t have a gun.
Source : http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/california-police-shoot-man-witnesses-unarmed-article-1.2809204
