Alfred Olango Becomes 217th Black Man Killed By Police In 2016
San Diego police shot and killed a mentally ill, unarmed black man at a shopping center in the city, after his sister called the department for assistance.
NBC 7 San Diego reported that police from the El Cajon suburb were called out late Tuesday night and found 30-year-old Alfred Olango, who they described as an "erratic man," who was refusing to comply with orders.
In a statement released after the shooting, police confirmed Olango's death and stated that two officers opened fire after the man "rapidly drew an object from his front pants pocket, placed both hands together and extended them rapidly toward the officer taking up what appeared to be a shooting stance."
The aftermath of the shooting was filmed by a bystander, who posted the live clip to her Facebook.
"Why couldn't you tase him? I told you he is sick. And you guys shot him!" Olango's sister can be heard telling officers in the video. "I called police to help him, not to kill him."
Witness reports from the shopping center vary: one person told NBC San Diego 7 that Olango had his hands in the air when he was shot, while another described him as suffering from a seizure prior to the shooting.
The news source also reported that the entire shooting was recorded on phone by an employee at a nearby restaurant. According to an El Cajon lieutenant, the restaurant worker turned over his phone voluntarily, and the footage will be released at some point throughout the investigation.
Following the shooting protests began at the scene of the incident, with people chanting "Black Lives Matter."
The shooting of Olango comes only three days after the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, and six days after police shot and killed Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to Mapping Police Violence, Olango has become the 217th black American to be killed by police so far this year.
