Screenshot via YouTube
A man was shot during a traffic stop in the Minnesota suburb of Falcon Heights near St. Paul on Wednesday evening, local CBS affiliate WCCO reported.
Video soon began circulating on social media, allegedly showing the aftermath of the shooting involving a St. Anthony police officer and a man identified as Philando Castile. The man was inside a car with a woman and a child, according to police cited by WCCO.
Castile, 32, later died at a local hospital.
The footage, which was originally streamed via Facebook Live, shows Castile bloodied and slumped over inside the car.
An unidentified police officer can be seen pointing a gun at the man from outside the vehicle.
A woman seen on the video identified Castile as her boyfriend. « He let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm,” she said.
The officer can be heard shouting expletives and screaming « I told him not to reach for it! »
The woman responds, « You told him to get his ID, sir, his driver’s license. »
A copy of the video showing the police encounter was posted on YouTube.
Philando Castile. Screenshot via WCCO
The woman recording the video said they were initially stopped for « a busted tail light. » The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was on scene investigating.
The woman and child inside the car were apparently unharmed.
St. Anthony police Sgt. Jon Mangseth, an interim chief with the department, told reporters the shooting was the first he could remember in the department’s history, The Washington Post reported.
“We haven’t had an officer involved shooting in 30 years or more, I’d have to go back in the history books,” he said. “It’s shocking, it’s not something that occurs in this area often.” Mangseth noted that some details of the incident were still unclear.
Watch the encounter below. Warning: the footage is graphic.
Protesters march to the governor’s mansion
Demonstrators in Minnesota gathered in front of Gov. Mark Dayton’s residence early Thursday morning, Fox 9 reported. The group marched from the scene of the shooting at Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street to St. Paul where governor’s mansion is located.
Pictures from Fox 9 show what appears to be crime scene tape strewn all over the mansion’s front gate.
A view of the Minnesota governor’s mansion during a protest after the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile, Thursday July 7, 2016 Bill Keller/Fox 9
The crowd stood peacefully, holding signs as police officers watched nearby.
A view of the Minnesota governor’s mansion during a protest after the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile, Thursday July 7, 2016 Samuel King/Fox 9
Pattern of killings
The incident happened less than a day after police in Louisiana were rebuked for the shooting of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a man who was killed in a police encounter in front of a convenience store in Baton Rouge. The US Justice Department announced Wednesday that it is investigating the case.
These latest shootings follow a long list of fatal encounters involving civilians and police. More than 500 people have been killed in police-involved shootings in 2016, as noted in an extensive report by The Washington Post.
As a result, civil rights leaders, politicians and community activists have called for greater oversight of police agencies nationwide — citing the need for body cameras for officers, and pushing for independent reviews and prosecutions of officers involved in police killings.
Within the past year, more police officers have faced charges related to deadly shootings than at any time in the last decade, but convictions have been few and far between.
Bryan Logan
Source: Business Insider UK