The Sacramento Police Department released video footage Wednesday of the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark, who was unarmed and holding only a cellphone when he was killed in his own backyard on Sunday.
The release of the footage included two audio and three video recordings of the shooting, the Sacramento Bee reports. The videos include body camera footage from the two police officers that took part in the shooting, though their names have yet to be released.
Clark was shot after police responded to a call that a man in a hoodie had been seen breaking into cars. After initiating a search for a suspect, deputies in a helicopter allegedly spotted a man who fit the description. The 10-second video of the shooting shows the officers chasing Clark into the backyard of his grandparents’ home.
They yelled for him to stop and to show his hands, though neither police officer identified themselves. They each fired 10 bullets at Clark, a move that Police training expert Ed Obayashi tells the Sacramento Bee is “reasonable.”
“It looks bad, but (the officers) are still perceiving a threat,” said Obayashi. “He’s not obeying. He’s running from them. He suddenly turns. The problem is he‘s got an object in his hand which unfortunately even during daylight could easily be considered a gun.”
According to CNN, detectives canvassing the neighborhood said they found at least three vehicles with damage that they say they believe Clark caused.
But Clark’s family is not buying it. They were shown the footage before it was released to the public and they questioned why the officers muted their cameras six minutes after the shooting.
“As soon as they did the command, they started shooting. They said ‘put your hands up, gun’ and then they just let loose on my nephew,” Clark’s aunt, Saquoia Durham, said. “They didn’t give him a chance to put his hands up or anything, and then when they shot him down, they knew they messed up.”
The two police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while officials conduct an investigation of the incident.