Aftermath of apparent police shooting broadcast on Facebook Live
A police officer in Minnesota apparently opened fire on a black man during a traffic stop on Wednesday evening, with the immediate aftermath of the incident then broadcast on Facebook Live.
The video was streamed by a woman on the passenger side of a car and showed what appeared to be a black man bleeding through his white T-shirt and a police officer with his gun still drawn. The man has now died, according to local authorities.
A story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that family members had identified the man as 32-year-old Philando Castile.
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In a press conference on Thursday at 2 a.m. local time, the St. Anthony Police Department confirmed a man had been shot during a traffic stop at approximately 9 p.m. local time in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. One adult male was taken to hospital, but he is now deceased.
A handgun was recovered from the scene and an investigation is underway. "The officer involved in this incident has been put on standard paid administrative leave," said Interim Department Chief John Mangseth.
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The video spread quickly through social media. Just a couple hours after posting, it had been shared more then 130,000 times and received more than two million views. It was posted on Facebook by an account with the name Lavish Reynolds, but it is not confirmed she is the person broadcasting the video.
The video contains some graphic images. The screenshot below (which has been cropped) shows the man's arm covered in blood with a police officer holding a handgun.
The man did not appear to be responsive in the video.
The woman can be heard detailing the situation in the video.
She said that the car had been pulled over due to a broken taillight. When the officer approached, she said the man, whom she identifies as her boyfriend, told the officer he had a gun and that he was reaching to take out his wallet.
"He let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet, and the officer just shot him in his arm," the woman says. "Please don't tell me he's dead.
"You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir."
Minutes later she is ordered from the car. The woman continued to broadcast and the video shows officers with guns drawn. An officer farther back can be seen holding a young child. In the video, the woman asks if they have her daughter.
Later in the video, the distressed woman says she has been handcuffed. "It's OK mommy," a child can be heard saying. "It's ok, I'm right here with you."
The video appears to be the first time that a livestreaming platform has been used to immediately document and broadcast the aftermath of a police shooting.
The video was taken down for around an hour, but has since been reposted. It was temporarily down due to a technical glitch, a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable. "We're very sorry that the video was temporarily inaccessible," she said. "It was ... restored as soon as we were able to investigate."
Warning, this video contains graphic footage some readers may find disturbing: The video is available here.
The incident comes in the wake of renewed outrage over the killing of black people by police officers. Video of police shooting Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, emerged on Tuesday and has sparked protests.
Libor Jany, a journalist for the Star Tribune, reported that people began to congregate near the scene of the shooting.
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Protestors also gathered outside the Minnesota Governor's residence in St. Paul.
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Topics Black Lives Matter
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
