A second video showing the shooting death of Alton Sterling, a black man shot several times while being held on the ground by police outside a Louisiana convenience store, was posted online Wednesday as federal authorities took charge of the investigation and local officials asked residents to keep their protests peaceful.
The video, obtained by CNN, shows another angle and was recorded closer to the shooting by one of two white Baton Rouge police officers who were answering a 911 report of a man with a gun. It is the second of two bystander videos that show the encounter. One posted online Tuesday night quickly sparked local protests and drew national attention.
In the new 38-second recording, Sterling is already on the ground, on his back. One officer is kneeling to Sterling's left. The other officer appears to be straddling Sterling's legs. Sterling can be seen from the chest up and his lower legs are also visible. His left arms and hands are not visible; his right arm is by his side.
After gunshots are heard, the camera pans to the right then back to Sterling, who has a large blood stain on his chest. The officer who was on his legs now lies on the pavement above Sterling's head, his gun pointed.
The officer radios for an ambulance. As Sterling moves his left arm toward his face and then his chest, the other officer appears to remove something from one of Sterling's right pockets. Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said Sterling was armed at the time he was killed and one witness said the officer removed a gun from Sterling's pocket.
Sterling, a 37-year-old man who sold CDs and DVDs outside the store, died of his wounds. The officers involved in Tuesday's shooting -- Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II -- have been placed on administrative leave. A source close to the investigation told CNN the officers were interviewed Tuesday night.
The first video
At 48 seconds, the first video is longer and begins with the camera facing a car dashboard as the three men stand near the vehicle. A single pop is heard. Then someone yells, "Get on the ground."
Another pop follows.
The camera then pans up to two officers confronting a man in a red shirt. The man is Sterling, according to his family's attorney.
Still frames from the video that appears to show Alton Sterling being shot to death.
An officer pulls him over the hood of a silver car and pins him to the ground. Once he's down, the officer begins to assist a second officer in restraining Sterling.
Seconds later, someone shouts, "He's got a gun."
An officer can be seen drawing something from his waist and pointing it at the man on the ground.
More yelling follows, though it's hard to make out what's being said. Then there are two bangs.
The witnesses inside the car shout and swear. Three more bangs go off. A woman in the car starts crying.
More witnesses?
Investigators said they'll review multiple videos of the shooting, and they're canvassing for witnesses.
"If you have any information, we urge you to come forward," the police chief said Wednesday.
The owner of the convenience store where Sterling was killed said he's sure the shooting was caught on his store's surveillance cameras, though he hasn't seen it. Police took the video later Tuesday, he told CNN.
There also is police body camera footage of the shooting of Sterling -- even though the cameras were dislodged -- Baton Rouge police Lt. Johnny Dunham told reporters. The cameras continued to record, he added.
"That footage may not be as good as we hoped for," Dunham said.
Authorities haven't said what those police videos or other surveillance footage of the scene show.
A source involved in the investigation told CNN that none of it is nearly as clear as two bystander videos. The source also told CNN the witness who called 911 said Sterling was "brandishing a gun," not pointing it at someone.
The 'CD man'
Sterling was known as the "CD man," a laid-back guy who would sell tunes and DVDs outside the convenience store where he was shot, according to local media.
"Alton was a respected man. He was beloved in the community. He did not deserve the treatment and this excessive force that was exerted on him by the police department," Jordan, his attorney, told CNN.
Now Sterling's family is "grieving and mourning for an unnecessary loss of life," the attorney said.
"Alton was out there selling CDs, trying to make a living. He was doing it with the permission of the store owner, so he wasn't trespassing or anything like that. He wasn't involved in any criminal conduct," Jordan said.
Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart, said he saw the officers slam Sterling on a car.
"They told him not to move," he said. "He was asking them what he did wrong."
He said the officers then used a Taser on Sterling at least once before shooting.
Both got on top of him, and one ordered him not to move, Muflahi said.
The one closest to Sterling's legs yelled "gun," he said, and the shots followed.
After the shooting, Muflahi said an officer reached into Sterling's pocket and pulled out a gun.
Muflahi said he'd known Sterling for six years and never saw a confrontation between Sterling and anyone. Sterling never got into fights, he said. And the store owner said he wasn't aware of any incident Tuesday that would have spurred a 911 call.
"Just five minutes before," Muflahi said, "he walked into the store getting something to drink, joking around, (and we were) calling each other names."
Later, Muflahi said he didn't hear Sterling say anything after the initial confrontation.
"(Sterling) was really confused," Muflahi said. "He didn't know what was going on or why they were there."
He said Sterling never showed a weapon.
"The gun was never anywhere in his hand, nor his hand wasn't near, inside his pocket," he said.
Sterling has had encounters with law enforcement before.
In 2009, he was charged with carrying a weapon (a firearm) while in possession of a controlled substance (marijuana). He pleaded guilty two years later and was sentenced to five years in prison, with credit for time served and a recommendation of work release and drug treatment. Sterling had pleaded guilty to other charges in the past.
There's no evidence that officers who responded to the convenience store early Tuesday were aware of his criminal history.
No comments:
Post a Comment