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A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a black man during a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said, prompting hundreds to protest at the site where the man died.
An online video surfaced purporting to show the killing of Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge on Tuesday.
In the video, which appears to be shot from inside a nearby parked car, one of two police officers outside the store can be seen tackling the man in the red shirt and wrestling him to the ground. Then the other officer helps him hold the man down. At one point someone can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun! Gun!” and then one officer on top of the man can be seen pulling his weapon from his holster. After some shouting, what sounds like a gunshot can be heard and the camera pulls away. Then another four shots can be heard. At one point, a person in the vehicle asks “They shot him?” as a woman can be heard crying.
Warning: This video contains graphic footage of the shooting.
The Associated Press has not been able to authenticate the video. But the appearance of the store in the video matches the front of convenience store where the shooting occurred. The man being subdued by police was wearing a red shirt, matching the description given earlier by police.
The video added to the outrage of protesters, as a crowd gathered at the store where Sterling died and grew to more than 200 people. They chanted “black lives matter” and “hands up don’t shoot” and waved signs late into the night, according to The Advocate.
An autopsy shows Sterling died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark said.
Officers responded to the store about 12:35 a.m. Tuesday after an anonymous caller indicated a man selling music CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun, Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said.
Two officers responded and had some type of altercation with the man and one officer fatally shot the suspect, McKneely said. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy, he said.
