Unarmed black man killed by police was pointing vaping device
The cop who opened fire had been on the scene for less than two minutes.
The incident in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon came as racially charged anger over similar incidents in two other U.S. cities over the past two weeks had started to subside.
El Cajon officer Richard Gonsalves and a colleague on the police force, whose name was not released, were responding to calls about a mentally unstable man walking in traffic, officials said.
The two officers confronted the man, Alfred Olango, a 38-year-old former refugee from Uganda, near a restaurant.
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Police said Olango ignored commands to take his hand out of his pocket before he pulled out an object later determined to be the smoking device. Olango assumed a “shooting stance” and pointed the device, police said. No gun was ever found.
onsalves opened fire and the other officer discharged a Taser device, said El Cajon police spokesman Lieutenant Rob Ransweiler, adding the officers were at the scene for less than two minutes.
Dan Gilleon, an attorney for Olango’s family, accused the officers of improperly approaching Olango and escalating the situation.
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