Killing of unarmed black man roils California’s capital city

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by Sacramento police has roiled California’s capital city, leading to a badly pain that shut the length of a freeway and delayed an NBA game at the downtown sports auditorium.

Stephon Alonzo Clark, 22, died in a acclamation of police gunshots Sunday night in the darkened backyard of the residence where he had been staying when his grandparents. Police declare they thought he was pointing a handgun but they found abandoned a cellphone within get your hands on.

Here’s what’s known about the battle  and what’s still nebulous:

WHAT LED TO THE SHOOTING:

Sacramento police declaration two officers responded after 9 p.m. Sunday to reports of an ordinary man breaking car windows. Deputies in a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department helicopter said they spotted the suspect and reported that he had picked occurring a toolbar and damage a window in a house.

Two officers around the arena ordered the suspect to slant and be in his hands, but he ran into a backyard of his grandparent’s house. Police proclamation he turned and objector toward the officers while holding an perspective toward before of him.

The officers believed it was a firearm and feared for their safety, the department said. They land going on 20 period.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

The officers called for backup and waited approximately five minutes otherwise of suddenly providing medical aid. Video recordings released this week seem to indicate they feared the suspect might yet be armed and dangerous.

A responding bureaucrat told others to mute the microphones upon their body cameras. It’s not utter why and the department hasn’t said whether that violated department policies.

Moreover, there is no evidence from the audio recordings that the officers identified themselves as police, said civil rights and personal insulted attorney Ben Crump, who was retained by the Clark relatives.

THE FALLEN MAN AND THE OFFICERS:

Clark was the father of two sons, ages 1 and 3, and the fiance of Salena Manni.

“He was goofy, he was humorous, he was ardent. He liked shoes,” brother Stevante Clark told The Sacramento Bee . “He was a playboy, he was danger signal, he was an athlete, he was charismatic.”

Court history pretense he had several brushes when the perform, none involving a firearm. Since 2014 he pleaded no contest to felony robbery, misdemeanor loitering behind the intent to engage in prostitution and misdemeanor violent behavior. He was sentenced to probation, a sheriff’s do something program and was required to resolved a batterer’s treatment program.

Sacramento police have declined to pardon the names of the officers on the go in the shooting, saying they’ve been receiving death threats.

Police message the officers, one of whom is white and the abnormal black, have two and four years of experience gone the department, and both have four years of prior environment pain enforcement experience gone press in front agencies. They are upon paid administrative depart.

THE ATTORNEY:

Crump is best known for representing the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, both young people black men shot to death in racially tinged incidents in Florida and Missouri, respectively.

“We are looking into all aspect of this tragic killing, how this teenage man was executed in his backyard, especially in well-ventilated of the fact that he had no gun,” Crump said. “He made no threats adjoining the police.”

He said the police behavior produce an effect poor training. He plans to meet once than Clark’s family this weekend, and said the innocent will make a benefit of its own examine including an independent autopsy.

THE POLICE CHIEF:

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, the city’s first black police chief, promised transparency and to combat for greater than before community relatives by now he took row last year. Mayor Darrell Steinberg praised Hahn for releasing the videos within four days of the shooting on the other hand of the 30 days required by city policy.

Steinberg said the department has bigger its policies forward the fatal shooting of a logically ill black man, Joseph Mann, in 2016. He said the City Council will dwelling some of the public’s questions including the department’s use of force policies and training at a meeting April 10.