Police release videos of fatal shooting of Alfred Olango
Authorities have released two videos of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by police in a San Diego suburb, saying they hoped the footage would reduce the growing tensions.
Alfred Olango, 38, was shot dead by officers Tuesday after, police say, he was uncooperative and took what was described as a "shooting stance" in the parking lot of a restaurant in El Cajon, California.
After the shooting, police found that the object in Olango’s hand was a vaping device, not a firearm.
Olango's death led to almost immediate protests that lasted much of the week and turned violent Thursday night, when crowds threw glass bottles at officers and smashed car windows.
Cellphone and surveillance videos, released during a news conference on Friday, show Olango being shot four times at close range by Officer Richard Gonsalves.
In the cellphone video, captured by an employee of a fast-food restaurant, a woman can be heard screaming, "Officer don't shoot him!" as the shots are fired.
"Our only concern at this point was community safety," El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis said. "We felt that the aggression of some — some — of the protesters was escalating to the point where it was necessary to release some information and truly, it was my hope to relieve some of that concern."
A lawyer for the family questioned the tactics used by Officer Gonsalves. Olango had been reported to be mentally challenged and unarmed and yet the officer approached with his weapon out, Dan Gilleon said.
"It shows a cowboy with his gun drawn provoking a mentally disturbed person," Gilleon said.
Olango was shot to death less than a minute after police arrived at the scene in response to a 911 call reporting a man in his 30s was acting "erratically" behind a restaurant.
The incident is the latest in a series of fatal shootings of African-American men that have put communities on edge across the US.
It came weeks after two black men were killed by police in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, sparking protests against police brutality in those cities.
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