Officer on trial in shooting death says motorist had hand on gun

Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn.

A Minnesota police officer charged in the death of a black motorist testified Friday that he was “scared to death” and fired because the man was pulling out his gun and ignoring commands to stop.

Officer Jeronimo Yanez, facing a manslaughter charge in the death of Philando Castile, said he could clearly see the gun that Castile had just told the officer he was carrying.

“I was scared to death. I thought I was going to die. My family’s faces popped up in my mind – my wife and baby girl,” the 29-year-old Yanez said, his voice choked with emotion.

Closing arguments were expected Monday.

Prosecutors say Yanez’s actions were unreasonable. Yanez had pulled the 32-year-old cafeteria worker over because of a faulty brake light. Castile had a permit for his gun, and prosecutors have sought to portray him as being cooperative when he volunteered to Yanez, “Sir, I have to tell you, I do have a firearm on me.”

The shooting last July drew widespread attention in part because Castile’s girlfriend – who was a passenger in the car along with her then-4-year-old daughter – streamed the aftermath on Facebook.

A central question at trial has been what Yanez saw before firing seven times, barely a minute after he approached the car and just seconds after Castile said he had a gun. Squad car video recorded him telling a supervisor after the shooting that he did not know where the gun was, although it also recorded him saying he told Castile to take his hand off it. Witnesses testified that the gun was in a pocket of Castile’s shorts when paramedics removed him from his vehicle.