EL CAJON, Calif., Sept. 28 (UPI) — Demonstrators gathered Tuesday near San Diego to protest what they described as a racially charged police shooting death of an African-American man, though police justified the incident, saying he took a “shooting stance” toward officers.
The shooting took place after police in El Cajon, Calif., responded to a call of a man in his 30s walking through traffic and acting “erratically,’ El Cajon Police Lt. Rob Ransweiler said.
“When [officers] contacted him, he failed to comply with the directives that he was given,” Ransweiler said.
Police said the man continued to pace and keep his hand in his pockets before quickly pulling an object from his pocket much like a person would draw a gun. They described his body position as being in a “shooting stance.”
El Cajon police released a still frame image from a witness-shot video appearing to show the man in this stance.
One of the officers at the scene shot the man and another fired a Taser. It is not known if the man drew a gun or a weapon.
The man who died has not been identified by police. Friends and family members told the San Diego Union Tribune the man’s name was Alfred Orlango, 30.
Protests began shortly after the man’s death, with friends and family charging the shooting was racially motivated and that the victim was mentally ill and not violent.
The shooting takes place just days after the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, N.C., and as the tension grows across the United States over police shootings of African-American men.
It appears that the family is attempting to play the race card when all of the evidence so far shows the police took the only option left, to use deadly force to maintain the safety of themselves and the public. Just another example of the problem with the race issue in it’s true form. It is the blacks that are promoting racial tensions, claiming racial profiling when none was present. Over and over. I don’t care what color, age, sex, or location the person is. If a person shows lethal force towards me, I will do what it takes to protect myself. If in “after the facts” evidence show the person was faking having a gun, that only shows this persons intent was to be shot by the police. Suicide by cop. The people protesting over this need to get a clue. They are the ones promoting hate and violence. It needs to be stopped. Arrest all protesters showing any type of aggression and lock them up. Maybe, and that is questionable, the black community will learn from all of this. I feel that at this point it is not the black community being persecuted, but the community that is being persecuted by the blacks. Personally I have never been racist and never will. But just watch how many blacks will call me one. Without knowing the facts. If this person was white, oriental, or Latino, would anyone feel the same way? Would there be riots? The answer is no.