LF: The horrifying moment a woman Facebook live-streams her dying boyfriend seconds after he is shot by a cop - and confronts the shaky officer who screams at her 'I told him not to reach for it!'

Title: The horrifying moment a woman Facebook live-streams her dying boyfriend seconds after he is shot by a cop - and confronts the shaky officer who screams at her 'I told him not to reach for it!'
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... our-times-reached-license.html
Published: Jul 7, 2016
Author: Sarah Dean and James Wilkinson For Daily
Post Date: 2016-07-07 07:45:17 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 6424
Comments: 43

Aftermath: Lavish Reynolds (pictured) streamed the aftermath of a police shooting on Facebook Wednesday. She told viewers that she and her boyfriend, Philando Castile, were pulled over for a busted tail light by a cop who asked to see his license. As Castile was reaching for it, the police officer shot him four times, she says

Castile (left) and Reynolds (right) before his tragic death. His mother, Valeria Castile, told WCCO TV her son 'lived by the law and died by the law' and he worked as a cafeteria supervisor at the J.J Hill Montessori School in St. Paul. Castile's Facebook page depicts a young man who was politically active and enjoyed partying. He had minor offences on his criminal record

Crowds of protesters turned up outside Governor Mark Dayton's residence in Saint Paul at 3am demanding for him to 'wake up' and speak to them. They shouted 'no justice, no peace' and video shows them chanting Castile's name over and over in a moving show of unity.

A man outside the Governor's house said on Twitter: 'We're protesting at the governor's mansion. The police sent two delegates to make peace. They brought their guns.'

The protesters earlier formed at the scene where Castile was shot. The crowd was heard chanting 'we will stand our ground. We will not move' as an officer tried to clear the area, KARE-TV reported. Crowds also gathered outside the hospital where Castile died.

In the shocking video, Castile is at first still conscious and intermittently swearing, while his head lolls around. The officer keeps his gun trained on the man.

'You told him to get his ID, sir, you told him to get his driver's license,' she says. And suddenly the reality seems to hit her, as Castile appears to stop moving.

'Oh god, don't tell me he's dead,' she says. 'Please don't tell me my boyfriend just went like that... please don't tell me that he's gone.'

The cop tells her to keep her hands 'where they are, please' and she agrees, but then goes back to chanting about her boyfriend's possible death. 'Please don't tell me this Lord, please Jesus don't tell me that he's gone.'

'Please officer don't tell me that you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir,' she says, her voice finally beginning to crack with emotion. 'He was just getting his licence and registration, sir.'

At that moment, other officers are heard telling Reynolds to exit the car and walk backwards towards her. She asks if they have her daughter. In the distance a girl can be heard crying.

They tell her to get on her knees while they cuff her - 'Ma'am you're just being detained right now until we just get this all sorted out, okay?' says one of the new officers.

'They threw my phone, Facebook,' Reynolds says, before finally breaking down as another siren - possibly an ambulance - is heard. 'Please no,' she wails, 'Please don't let him be gone.'

At this point in Reynolds's video, a man who sounds like the first officer can be heard shouting 'F***' at several points afterward, and Reynolds is heard in the distance telling cops how the cop 'started shooting.'

She then begins wailing about how Castile is a 'good man' who 'works for St Paul Public Schools... He’s never been in jail, anything. He’s not a gang member, anything.'

Reynolds then prays to God to protect Castile, saying: 'You know we're innocent, Lord. You know we're innocent people.'

Her daughter is heard telling an officer she wants to collect her mommy's purse.

Shortly afterward, the video cuts to Reynolds, sitting in a police cruiser - handcuffed, she says - with her daughter.

She repeats her story and begs anyone watching to come help her at the corner of Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street.

The camera moves over to her daughter for a moment; the girl looks sad and confused.

'It was a Chinese police officer that shot him,' says Reynolds. 'He asked him for his license and registration, which was in the back of his pocket, because he keeps his wallet in his pocket.

'And as he went to reach, he let the officer know before he was reaching that he had a firearm on him, and before he can let the officer know anything, the officer took off shots. About four or five rounds was shot.

'And my boyfriend, I don't know what condition he's in, I don't know if he's okay or if he's not okay. I'm in the back seat of a police car, handcuffed... they got machine guns pointed.'

Finally, Reynolds - who has mostly kept it together throughout the incident - breaks down.

In a statement, St. Anthony Police Department said: 'On 07-06-2016 at approximately 2100 hours, a St. Anthony Police Officer effected a traffic stop on Larpenteur and Fry in the City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

'During the stop, shots were fired. One adult male was taken to the hospital. We have been informed that this individual is deceased.

'No one else was injured and the BCA has been called in to investigate this officer involved shooting. A handgun was recovered from the scene.

'The BCA will provide additional information as their investigation progresses.'

Castile was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, according to The Star Tribune.

Sgt. Jon Mangseth, interim chief of St. Anthony Police Department told the paper that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been called in to investigate.

The officer involved in the shooting had worked for the force 'in excess of five years', Sgt. Jon Mangseth said.

He has not been identified but Reynolds claimed he was a 'Chinese police officer' in the video.

At a 2am press conference, the police chief confirmed Castile was shot by the officer at 9pm.

The video had received more than 1.5million views in the four hours after it went live - and attracted a stream of horrified and angry comments.

'Wtf man. F*** the police I swear this is bulls***,' said one. 'This is some f***ing BULLS*** I'm so tired of this s*** - the man isn't moving why do they have their guns pointed at him,' wrote another.

But many replied with messages of support and love for Reynolds - nicknamed 'Diamond' - and her family.

The video disappeared for around an hour after it was put up, causing angry accusations of censorship, but then returned with a 'graphic content' warning.

Reynolds's entire Facebook profile also went down for the duration before returning.

His distraught mother, Valeria Castile, told WCCO TV her son 'lived by the law and died by the law' and he worked as a cafeteria supervisor at the J.J Hill Montessorri School in St. Paul.

She tearfully told the Star Tribune outside hospital: 'They killed my son. They took a good man, a hard-working man; he worked since he was 18 years old.'

Clarence Castile, Philando’s uncle, added his nephew had worked at the cafeteria for 12 to 15 years 'cooking for the little kids' and described him as a 'good kid'.

His family said he was a straight-A student at high school who graduated with honors.

A WEEK OF POLICE SHOOTINGS

The shooting of Philando Castile took place just one day after police in Louisiana shot dead a black father of five at point-blank range, in an incident being probed by federal investigators.

Horrific video footage showed Alton Sterling being thrown to the ground by cops. As Sterling continues to move on the ground, one officer reaches for his gun and then points it at the father-of-five's chest.

Less than two seconds later, the first shot is heard, followed quickly by another two as the startled store owner turns the camera away from the gruesome scene. Three more shots are heard as the clip ends.

On Sunday, another black man, 37-year-old Delrawn Small, was shot dead by an off-duty police officer in a road-rage incident.

Officer Wayne Isaacs killed Small after a confrontation over a near-miss crash in Brooklyn. Small is said to have attacked Isaacs through his open driver's side window with 'big haymaker' punches before he was shot dead by the officer.

Castile's shooting also comes on the eve of a closely watched trial in Baltimore on Thursday of an officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a broken spine in the back of a police van.

The 25-year-old man was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possessing what the police alleged was an illegal switchblade.

The Washington Post reports Castile is one of 123 black Americans shot and killed by police in 2016 so far.

The parent of a child at the school Castile worked at wrote on Facebook that he was a 'good man', in a message published by Twitter user Wendy R.

'Every day he fist bumped my kids, even when they were acting up. He knew every single one by name, pushed extra food in them like a grandma, and sneaked extra graham crackers into my son's bag because Peter got a kick out of it.

'My borderline autistic son hugged him every day. You guys. This was a GOOD MAN,' he said.

Castile's Facebook page depicts a young man who was politically active and enjoyed partying. He shared images of the Black Panther Party and posted the caption 'by any means necessary'.

He also posted that he went to the University of Minnesota and had worked at Target.

His sister Allysza Castile, 23, told the Washington Post: 'They won’t let us see him. We’ve been here probably an hour, the whole family is here, and they won’t let us see him.'

Lawyer Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP chapter, spoke outside the Governor's house in the early hours of Thursday morning.

'We are tired of the laws... we are tired of the demonisation of four black brothers and sisters,' she said. 'Enough is enough.'

The shooting comes just days after another young black man was shot dead by police after they received a complaint about a man making threats with a gun while selling CDs outside a store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Horrific video footage showed Alton Sterling being thrown to the ground by cops Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II.

The cops are seen yelling at Sterling to 'get on the ground' before he is tackled by the officers.

Alton Sterling (pictured) was killed following a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store early Tuesday morning

As Sterling continues to move on the ground, the officer - believed to be Lake - reaches for his gun and then points it at the father-of-five's chest.

One of the officers then yells: 'He's got a gun! Gun! You f****** move and I swear to God.'

As Sterling lies on the ground with blood seeping from his chest, one of the officers leans over and grabs what appears to be a gun from the street seller's pocket.

It is not clear whether Sterling was reaching for his gun, but he was not holding it at the time he was shot.

Police took CCTV footage from the store without the owner's permission, but said they would hand it over to investigators.

It also emerged that Lake has been suspended before, also following the shooting of a black man.

Sterling's death sparked protests, with thousands turning out to demand justice outside the store where he was shot.

#2 Question, the girl seems awfully calm and able to hear after a firearm was discharged into a little car, how can that be?

I don't know that it is but if it is, my guess would be it was manufactured that way.

#2 Question, the girl seems awfully calm and able to hear after a firearm was discharged into a little car, how can that be?

I don't know that a firearm was discharged inside the car. As for the girl seeming calm, people react in many different ways in stressful situations, at least, that has been my experience.