Wednesday, March 21, 2018
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Two officers yelled for a suspect to show his hands then shouted "gun, gun, gun" moments before fatally shooting the man who turned out to be unarmed, audio from body camera footage released today by Sacramento police shows.
Footage from the body cameras and an overhead helicopter does not clearly depict what the man, who was only holding a cellphone, was doing in the moments before the police fired on Sunday night. The shooting happened in the backyard of the man's grandparent's home, where he was staying. The police did not find a gun at the scene.
The Sacramento Police Department said the man, who was black, was seen breaking into at least three vehicles and later into a neighbor's home. The break-ins were first reported by a 911 call also released by the police.
The police said deputies in the helicopter saw the man break a neighbor's sliding glass door before jumping a fence. The helicopter video does not show the alleged break-in. It picks up as the man is running through a backyard and climbing over a fence into a neighboring property. It shows him looking into a truck in the driveway.
The helicopter, flying over the house, then loses sight of the man. It briefly shows him in the backyard as the police are running up the driveway along the side of the house.
"Show me your hands – gun!" one officer yells, according to the body camera footage. It is dark outside and a flashlight from one body camera briefly shows the backyard, but the man is not visible. "Gun, gun, gun," one of the officers yells before they begin shooting.
The helicopter footage shows Clark collapsing as they shoot. It's unclear from the helicopter and body camera video exactly how many shots were fired. Police previously said the officers fired 20 shots.