Police in the San Diego, California, suburb of El Cajon have released a pair of videos showing the death of unarmed Ugandan refugee Alfred Olango, who was killed by officers after his sister called 911 to report her brother was having a mental breakdown. The first video, captured on a security camera at a nearby restaurant, shows Olango confronted by El Cajon police officer Richard Gonsalves, who approaches Olango with his gun drawn. Olango is cornered near a parked pickup truck and a fence, as officer Gonsalves follows, raising his gun. A second video, taken on a cellphone camera, shows a second officer arriving on the scene and aiming a Taser, as Olango’s sister pleads with officers not to shoot her brother.
Woman: “Officer, don’t shoot him. Take your hands up! You’re f****** standing with me.”
Male Voice 1: “Keep your hands out of your—” [inaudible]
Woman: [Inaudible]
Male Voice 1: “You need to back up.”
Male Voice 2: “Shut the f*** up.”
Woman: [Inaudible]
[Four gunshots sound.]
Woman: [Screams.]
Police say Olango pulled an electronic cigarette and pointed it at Officer Gonsalves, who mistook it for a gun and opened fire. Olango was shot about 40 seconds after police arrived. No Psychiatric Emergency Response Team was deployed, even though police knew the call was for a mental health emergency, and it took police 50 minutes to arrive. Protests continued throughout the weekend in El Cajon and in San Diego, where demonstrators are calling for a federal probe into the killing.