But outside observers say that claim raises some questions. “That inconsistency has got to be answered”.
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Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile, 32, in the driver’s seat of a vehicle on Wednesday night in the Falcon Heights neighborhood, just outside the state capitol.
On Thursday night, a gunman ambushed police officers who had been protecting a downtown Dallas protest responding to the deaths of Castile and Alton Sterling, the black man recently killed by police in Louisiana. They formed a circle in the street in front of the governor’s residence as an organizer prayed for peace and togetherness. Castile was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop on Wednesday.
An attorney for Castile’s family, Larry Rogers, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on Kelly’s remarks.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has said he did not believe Castile would have been shot dead had he been white, remarks which were criticized by state law enforcement groups.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said several videos, including squad auto video, have been collected, though St. Anthony officers don’t wear body cameras.
In the emotional video, Castile is bloodied, moaning and struggling to stay alive while Reynolds says, “stay with me”. The school cafeteria supervisor was shot “for no apparent reason” while reaching for his wallet during a traffic stop, after telling the officer he had a gun and a permit to carry it, his girlfriend said in the video. He said police investigating police does not work.
Kelly said that Yanez has no disciplinary actions in his employee file at the department, and court records show he has not faced any civil lawsuits.
“Either [Castile] was a robbery suspect and [Yanez] didn’t follow the procedures for a felony stop, or [Castile] was not a robbery suspect and [Yanez] shot a man because he stood at his window getting his information”, Goins said. “They want to be cautious because the circumstances merit caution”.
According to Kelly, Yanez is a “sensitive man” who has been very distressed about the entire incident, and is now on administrative leave from the St. Anthony Police Department.
The lawyer said Yanez is deeply saddened by the shooting but did not elaborate further on what led up to the incident and why the automobile was pulled over in the first place.
The alert for the July 2 robbery described one of the suspects as having longer dreadlocks and possibly a moustache, and the second as having shoulder-length dreadlocks, a small moustache and some hair on his chin.
A makeshift memorial of flowers, balloons, signs and chalk messages that included “RIP Philando” has sprung up near where Castile was shot. One of the most stunning features of the 10-minute video is just how composed she stays throughout the filming, even as the police officer kept his gun pointed toward the auto that contained herself and her four-year-old daughter.
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Of the gun, she said, “I discussed it with my son and he began to tell me about them going to the gun range”.
