Protesters gathered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday night after a black man was fatally shot in an encounter with police officers earlier in the day, an incident that was captured in a graphic mobile phone video that began circulating widely on social media.
Alton Sterling (37) was killed shortly after midnight Tuesday, the Baton Rouge police said in a statement. The police had received a call from someone who reported having been threatened by an armed man selling CDs outside a store in the eastern part of the city, the statement said.
A police spokeswoman reached early Wednesday said she could not comment beyond the statement, which provided no details of what it called an “altercation” between Mr Sterling and the two officers who responded to the call.
William (Beau) Clark, the coroner of East Baton Rouge Parish, said that Mr Sterling had died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
A mobile phone video shot by a bystander appears to show Mr Sterling being tackled by a police officer.
He is then held down by two officers, and one of the officers appears to hold a gun above Sterling’s chest.
The two officers were placed on leave immediately after the shooting, according to the police statement
Mr Sterling’s name began trending on Twitter on Tuesday night, as members of the Black Lives Matter movement expressed disgust and anguish at his death.
Images from social media showed scores of protesters marching in Baton Rouge.
New York Times