Protests erupted in Minnesota overnight after a man was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in front of his girlfriend and a child. The aftermath of Philando Castile’s shooting in Falcon Heights was apparently captured in graphic detail on Facebook video.
Angry crowds gathered outside the governor’s mansion as news spread about the death of Castile, a 32-year-old kitchen supervisor who worked for the St. Paul school district.
It was the second officer-involved fatality to spark protests in just two days, following the killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The St. Anthony Police Department confirmed a man was fatally shot during a traffic stop Wednesday night, saying that a handgun was recovered from the scene and that the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.
A woman and her young child were in the car at the time but were unharmed, the department told NBC affiliate KARE11.
In a Facebook video that appears to show the aftermath of the incident, a man is seen in a blood-soaked white t-shirt slumped in the driver’s seat of a car. The form of what appears to be an officer is at the window, pointing a gun inside.
“Oh my god, please don’t tell me that he’s gone. Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him,” the panicked woman, who identified herself as Castile’s girlfriend, can be heard saying.
“He’s licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out of his pocket and he let the officer know that he was — he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet,” the woman tells the camera.
Speaking to the bleeding man, the woman says: “Stay with me! We got pulled over for a busted tail-light in the back, and the police just … he’s covered. They killed my boyfriend.”
The officer is heard saying “I told him not to reach for it!” to which the woman replies: “You told him to get his ID, sir, his driver’s license.”
“Oh my God, please don’t tell me he’s dead,” the woman says as the wounded man slumps motionless in the seat.
“My daughter just witnessed this,” the woman says.
The child is later seen in the video and tries to comfort her crying mother.
“It’s OK mommy,” the girl says. ” It’s OK. I’m right here with you.”
The contents of the video have not been independently confirmed by NBC News.
Interim St Anthony police chief Sgt. Jon Mangseth said the officer involved has been with the police department for five years. He told a press conference that he was aware of the livestream but hasn’t seen the video.
Falcon Heights is a city of around 5,300 people just southeast of St. Anthony, between Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Police did not identify the victim but his family named him as Philando Castile.
Castile had a concealed weapons permit to carry a firearm, his uncle Clarence Castile told NBC News.
“My nephew, he wasn’t trying to pull a weapon on those police,” Clarence Castile said. “He was reaching for ID.”
He said his nephew was one more victim in a string of “young black men being murdered” by police.
“My nephew was executed,” Clarence Castile said. “They are going to try and make my nephew out to be a bad guy and get away with murdering another young black man.”
“My nephew was nowhere near being a bum, he was a good young man,” he added. “He was a good kid who loved life.”
Protesters gathered near the scene of the shooting chanting “No Justice, No Peace” and “Prosecute the Police.” A noisy crowd formed later outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, where police confirmed to KARE11 that Gov. Mark Dayton was in residence. Car horns honked constantly and protesters chanted Castile’s name.
NBC News
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