Texas police ‘shoot man with hands up’

Texas police ‘shoot man with hands up’

Source:  BBC
September 2 2015

Video footage has emerged that appears to show police in Texas shooting and killing a man who had his hands up.

In the video, obtained by local media in San Antonio, Gilbert Flores is seen outside a house with his arms raised before shots are fired and he falls.

Police say he was armed and officers first attempted to subdue the 41-year-old with a stun gun.

A series of fatal police shootings in the last year have sparked protests and increased scrutiny on police tactics.

Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said the video was “disturbing” but told people not to “rush to judgement” over what may have happened.

Meanwhile, US officials say a second video has emerged that gives a “very clear view” of a confrontation, the Associated Press reports. The officials declined to provide further details.

‘Cause for concern’

Police said the officers were responding to a domestic dispute involving a woman who had been cut in the head with a knife. She had been holding a baby who may also have been harmed, they said.

The officers involved, Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, have been placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated by the sheriff’s department.

“Certainly, what’s in the video is a cause for concern,” said Sheriff Susan Pamerleau, adding that the investigation must be allowed to run its course.

The initial video was recorded by a motorist from some distance.  The two police officers are believed to have been without body cameras during the incident.  They and the victim were Hispanic.

The fatal shooting a year ago of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white police officer sparked protests and a national debate about racial bias and the use of force by police.

US officials have recently voiced concern that such deadly confrontations have triggered retaliatory shootings of officers, including last week’s death of a sheriff’s deputy in Houston, Texas.  Three other officers have been killed while on duty in the last eight days.

Comprehensive numbers of how many US police officers kill individuals while on duty do not exist. The FBI records “justifiable homicides” by police officers. There were 461 such cases in 2013.

Source:  Texas police ‘shoot man with hands up’  BBC