Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY
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U.S. NEWS A5
Friday 23 March 2018
Protest planned after fatal police shooting of unarmed man
By SOPHIA BOLLAG People gather outside the home, Wednesday March 21, 2018, where Stephon Alonzo Clark, 22, He also questioned why an
DON THOMPSON was shot and killed by a pair of Sacramento Police officers in Sacramento, Calif. The police said arriving backup officer had
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) the two officers were responding to a call of a man breaking at least three vehicle windows Sun- the two original officers turn
— Community members day night. Clark, who was unarmed, was shot in the backyard of his grandmother's home, where off the microphones on
and activists gathered at he was staying. Video footage released Wednesday shows the officers yelling that Clark had a their body cameras, elimi-
Sacramento City Hall on gun before firing. No gun was found at the scene. nating what he called "im-
Thursday to protest the fa- portant evidence."
tal shooting of an unarmed (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Sacramento police did not
black man by police. respond to requests for an
Black Lives Matter Sacra- experts said, and if so the a former police officer and ficers may have a tough explanation or whether
mento organized the rally shooting was likely legally assistant professor in the time explaining why they muting the microphones
in honor of Stephon Clark, justified. Department of Law and jumped to the conclusion violated department pol-
a 22-year-old who was shot One officer is heard "doing Police Science at John Jay that Clark had a gun. icy nor why the officers
Sunday night in his grand- a mental inventory to make College of Criminal Justice. "The officers are going to waited five minutes to help
parents' backyard, where sure there's no holes in his But Geoffrey Alpert, a pro- have an interesting time Clark once he was on the
he was staying. body" because the officers fessor of criminology at the explaining why they per- ground not moving. In an
The two officers yelled that appear to think Clark may University of South Carolina ceived they were in fear of ideal world, the two officers
they thought he had a gun have shot at them and and an expert on police their lives," Alpert said. "It's should have immediately
in the moments before missed, said Peter Moskos, use of force, said the of- going to be a stretch." provided first aid, said Eu-
they shot him, according to gene O'Donnell, a profes-
audio from body camera sor of police studies at John
footage released Wednes- Jay College of Criminal
day by Sacramento police. Justice. "But that could be
But Clark was only holding more the product of hope
a cellphone. than reality," he said, with
Footage from body cam- the officers still in shock and
eras and an overhead heli- worried about their own
copter does not clearly de- safety. The Sacramento
pict what Clark was doing Police Department said
just before police opened officers were responding
fire. Officers did not find a to reports of a man seen
gun at the scene, and in- breaking into at least three
dependent experts said the vehicles and later into a
recordings raise more ques- neighbor's home. The po-
tions than they answer. lice said deputies in the he-
The officers appeared to licopter saw Clark break a
legitimately believe they neighbor's sliding glass door
were in danger, several before jumping a fence.q
Wounded teen still fights for life, despite Facebook message
Associated Press membering Jaelynn Willey" School in St. Mary's County. shooter as Austin Rollins, 17, shot in the thigh during the
GREAT MILLS, Md. (AP) with a message: "We hope The page was changed and said he had been in a encounter was released
— A Maryland teen who people who love Jaelynn again Thursday to remove relationship with Jaelynn. Wednesday from a hospi-
was critically wounded in will find comfort in visiting the language suggesting Rollins was killed after tal. The St. Mary's County
a school shooting was still her profile to remember Jaelynn had died. The fam- shooting Jaelynn. A school Sheriff's Office said Wednes-
fighting for her life Thursday, and celebrate her life." ily had been trying to get resource officer got there day that Rollins and the girl
despite a mistaken social Jaelynn, though, was still the page changed since within a minute and fired a had been in a relationship
media message suggesting alive and in critical condi- Wednesday afternoon, shot at him, but it's not yet that recently ended.
she had died. tion Thursday at a Maryland said Lucinda Avis, a family clear whether Rollins was “All indications suggest the
Jaelynn Willey's Face- hospital, according to a friend who set up a fund- killed by the officer's bullet shooting was not a random
book page was changed spokesman, after Tuesday's raising page for Jaelynn. or took his own life. act of violence,” police
Wednesday to say "re- shooting at Great Mills High Authorities identified the A 14-year-old boy who was said in a statement.q
