Family: Man Dead After Officer-Involved Shooting In Falcon Heights

[villager]

Source: CBS

WCCO confirms that a 32-year-old man has died after an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night in Falcon Heights.

Philando Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, says he died at Hennepin County Medical Center.

St. Anthony Police confirmed the shooting, which happened in the area of Larpenteur Avenue and Fry Street. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her daughter were in the car at the time. Reynolds is in custody Wednesday night.

A video circulating on Facebook, which was pulled from the site before midnight, was filmed by Reynolds and appears to show the aftermath of the shooting.

Reynolds, who was in the front passenger seat, says in the video that she was pulled over for a broken tail light. She says police asked Castile, who was driving, for his license and registration.

She says as Castile was reaching for his wallet, he informed officers that he had a firearm in his possession, and a conceal-and-carry permit.

Reynolds says in the video that an officer then shot her boyfriend four times.

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Read more: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/07/06/police-officer-involved-shooting-in-falcon-heights/

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[Bradical79]

1. I just saw the video, it's heartbreaking :-(

He's just bleeding out with the officer continuing to point his gun into the car. The victim's girlfriend is incredibly brave recording everything and remaining calm. When the other police show up, they take her out and tell her to get on her knees. Someone flips the phone over, but it's still recording audio. Awful

[forgotmylogin]

30. Still wearing his seat belt.

He worked in a cafeteria at a school, serving lunch to children.

[Bradical79]

2. Video link

[Judi Lynn]

6. The phone started recording the lady's face after they threw her in the back seat of the car,

she said they are standing around with guns pointed, she is overwrought, at some point she screams, from frustration, fear, etc., and her tiny daughter, who's standing in the back seat with her said, "Don't worry, Mommy, I'm here with you."

The tiny one was trying to comfort her mother, after having just seen her mother's boyfriend shot, bleeding profusely, going unconscious, possibly dying while still strapped into his seat.

The child is a tiny angel, no doubt about it.

[uponit7771]

17. omfg, this is horrible.. omfg... scared stupid fuckin cop on meth or something... he wasn't trying

... to help anyone just holding the fucking gun acting as if they guy who was dying was still a threat and the girl friend had to stay calm so she didn't get shot either... omfg

[Bradical79]

21. Yeah, he was nuts

It was terrifying. I just kept thinking "do something you dumb fucker!" I came across it when I was doing a quick check of my favorite gaming forum before bed. Didn't sleep a bit. Don't know what to do...

[yurbud]

56. it makes you wonder if they recruit cops from skinhead gangs or something

[jtuck004]

3. "You shot four bullets into him, sir." n/t

[lostnfound]

41. Jesus did she really say that?

I can't watch it right now . Too horrible.

[jtuck004]

57. That was the saddest thing I have ever heard a human being say. And I've heard them

say a lot, halfway around the world.

She was trying desperately to appear human to this monster, even willing to sacrifice herself to keep his attention off her child.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. We really don't have well-trained, professional police in this country

We have a patchwork of half-trained, nervous, self-righteous pseudo-militias. It is deeply disturbing.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. No, they are trained this way

They are at war, civilians are dangerous, especially when they are black. This is what they are taught.

[DesertRat]

5. OH MY GOD what is happening??

I saw the video on Twitter. He did nothing wrong. There was a child in the back.... This makes no sense

[Judi Lynn]

7. Another day, more broken hearts, lives, spirits. Thanks for letting us know, villager.

We really need to know EVERY time it happens.

The man told the cop he had a gun, that he had a concealed carry liscense, when asked. Then, for his honesty, and composure, he gets shot four times and killed. Very straightforward.

I guess the NRA should admit they actually mean black people should not be allowed to carry guns, just white ones, because they will be killed if they admit they have guns to the police. They'll need to put up signs in front of gun shops saying "whites only."

[lostnfound]

42. I know.. I've facetiously suggested before that...

They should just make it illegal for black men to own weapons, because the police get away with murder every time they have a gun (or a toy gun or a bible or a cell phone or a candy bar) in their hands.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic.

[ariesgem]

9. LAWD...here we go.

Spoiler alert because I've actually seen this episode of this show

1. The police say they feared for their lives and that the victim was reaching for a weapon

2. The police chief makes public statement supporting the police officers and says, "the video doesn't capture everything that happen"

3. The public THEN begins to parrot "the video doesn't tell the whole story"

4. The media will pull up the victim's arrest record and justify his murder

5. Someone will say, "why aren't they concerned about black on black violence" as if a public servant murdering a citizen is the same as a criminal murdering someone

6. The DA will either refuse to indict or even better he will pull together a grand jury that refuses to indict.

7. The Justice Department will do a Civil Rights investigation...(compound spoiler alert) but they will find no wrongdoing

8. The city will settle with the family for $6 Million dollars. I didn't make up that number recent settlements fall
around that figure (Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner)

9. Someone again will somehow believe there's a little bit of justice in that settlement.

10. Rinse and repeat for the next episode....

[GummyBearz]

36. Well

You pretty much nailed it. This is so ridiculous. When will murdering cops actually face the justice they are supposed to be working for? This is disgusting.

[SoCalMusicLover]

59. Left Some Stuff Out

The city will pay up......but not really, since it's actually the TAXPAYERS who are paying.

The officers involved will get paid for their leave.

The officers involved will be terminated, after the public outcry, and to lessen the view that nothing was done, even though no charges were filed.

The officers will go to another police department, where their history is unknown, and they have the chance to start over.

[dixiegrrrrl]

64. Their history will be known, and they will be hired anyhow

by the same mentality that hired them this time.

Seen it happen, several times, heard about it even more, from police friends.

[KT2000]

10. some like to give instructions on

how to behave around the police but as this shows - nothing helps if someone is black. This is just horrible. Reynolds sure did a good job of getting the truth out there. They killed her boyfriend and then treat HER like a criminal. Fire every one of those assholes.

[uponit7771]

18. +1, I don't believe for a second he gave the cop a good reason to unholster in fire arm in the first

... place

[forgotmylogin]

31. Someone on Twitter said that is standard procedure...

If a cop is informed someone has a concealed weapon, they will draw their own weapon for safety. I'm fine with that.

The girlfriend in the video said the officer was told by the victim that he had a CW as he was reaching for his wallet. The cop said to get his hand out, girlfriend reports he put his hand up and was immediately shot several times.

So the cop is a quick-draw artist and gave the victim no time to comply, or he had his weapon out on approach for a busted tail light. Fire him. He is a danger to the public.

[uponit7771]

32. +1, this also coincides with what the nurse said that the cop said get your hands up and before the

.. end of his sentence there were shots.

Scary ass'd cops... don't understand how they're not trained properly in these situations

[forgotmylogin]

33. If he had shot a white father in front of his wife and kid

He'd be in jail already.

But cops don't immediately think "this will escalate to gunfire" when approaching a caucasian couple and child.

[lostnfound]

43. Fire him? Charge him with murder, negligent at least.

Firing isn't enough.
This is MALPRACTICE, at least.
Why are they never held accountable?

Any chance the NRA will pick up the fight on this? Does Wayne laPierre mind a man getting murdered by police just for announcing that he has a concealed weapon and permit?

No? Huh. Wonder why
Maybe the flipping media needs to ask me laPierre for comment.

[KT2000]

54. yes - charge the shooter with murder

it was murder

[pipoman]

62. why on earth would you be fine with that?

That is the absolute dumbest policy I have ever heard and it is the policy that killed this guy.

There is no cop shooters who are stupid enough to warn the cop before he pulls out his gun. The only people saying "I am carrying a gun" are people who have no intention of shooting the cop.

Just more dumbass "officer safety", the cop is always right bullshit.

[Odin2005]

25. Yep, the guy politely told the cops he had a Concealed-Carry permit and was armed...

...and they immediately shot him, because any black guy with a gun must be dangerous, dontcha know?

[Onyrleft]

11. Inevitable racist mugshot countdown.

I wonder what news outlets will do if there is no mugshot of the victim. If he's never been in trouble they will probably just sweep this one under the rug.

[uponit7771]

16. They already tried on this one, just petty shit... he was an elementary school cafeteria cook

... and the girlfriends daughter was in the car.

The cop was trigger happy, a nurse who saw the whole thing from afar pretty much said the same thing the girlfriend did that the cop said put your hands up and then just started shooting.

[nitpicker]

12. Link to BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36732908

[liberalnarb]

13. Two in a row.

[villager]

14. Well, the week for the police isn't over yet. nt

[Scruffy1]

19. I live about three miles from there.

The St. Anthony Police Department patrols this area for Falcon Heights. It seems there main business is generating revenue. I always play close attention when I travel through this area, because you will get stopped for any small reason or maybe none at all. All of the suburban police departments are worse than the Minneapolis Police Department. These are the places they put in some time in order to get hired by a bigger police department or some who who couldn't get hired by anyone else.I'm not sure why he volunteered the information he had a gun. My advice is to tell police nothing at all. If I am pulled over I will have my wallet out on the dash or on the seat. This does not excuse the officer one bit. The reason I do it because there are a lot of psycho cops out there who are consciously or unconsciously looking for some to kill.

[SoCalMusicLover]

60. Hindsight Is 20/20

The gentleman in Louisiana did not tell them about his gun, but they killed him anyways.

This guy was dead the moment he stepped into the car with a broken taillight. He never had a chance.

[safeinOhio]

20. A wallet always looks like a gun to cops in the hands of a POC.

Until the laws are applied equally, there should be no CCWs. We need to BAN all guns until our representatives can figure out "what the hell is going on".

The best part of this idea is that all those that want to carry will make sure POC have the same rights as white people so they can get their guns back.

[Odin2005]

24. A black guy was murdered for excercizing his rights so you want to take away that right?

OK...

[safeinOhio]

29. Yep

Just until we can solve the problem so everyone has the same right. If we did that the problem for non-whites would get solved in a hurry. It's not just "a" black guy, it happens all the time. Doesn't the Contsitution say say "Liberty and Justice for all"? I'd be more than happy to give up my right to make sure everyone has the same right, not a right for just White people.

[sarisataka]

37. If not "Liberty

and Justice for All" we'll make it Liberty and Justice for none? That makes sense.

I hear some locales had voting problems last time. Not enough ballots, people being turned away at cetera. So this election people will not be allowed to vote that way it's fair for everyone.


Spreading a problem while making no attempt to solve it is not fixing it.

[safeinOhio]

47. If all the ballots from that district were thrown out

and it required a revote, at a high cost. my guess is it would not happen again.

[sarisataka]

48. Then the cost is borne

By those responsible.

The analogy in this would be to disarm the police until they can sort themselves out. Disarm the killers, not the victims

[safeinOhio]

51. The problem is

it all depends on the color of the their skin. In practice a black person, as a victim, will be shot and killed without justice if armed while a white person won't. Both Black victims is the last 2 days were doing what any white person could do by arming themselves against crime and were killed because they did so. Until it is only a right for White people, it needs to be repealed until it applies to everyone, regardless of race or gender. That would guarantee the rights of POC would get their rights so White people would get theirs back.

[sarisataka]

52. You really think that is the way it would work out?

Don't you rather think that would become the new status quo and the police excuse would simply be he was carrying a gun, which is illegal, that is why we shot him.

And they would still shoot blacks at a higher rate than whites.

[safeinOhio]

53. I don't think it would ever happen, but

unless we disarm our current police force, this will happen. Or, at least until ever cop that shoots an unarmed person or someone that legally has a weapon that is not White is fired and that cop is forever unable to own a firearm.

[sarisataka]

55. Police need to be held

To the same standards as civilians in the use of lethal Force. If they shoot and it is not justified, they need to be prosecuted.

[safeinOhio]

58. I think it goes farther than that.

Decision making in that job is of all importance. Thinking a wallet looks like a gun is a bad decision. Yet it can justify a police shooting. Therefore, one mistake should be enough to remove them from law enforcement. Perhaps not prosecution, but a bad decision that ends up injuring or killing an innocent person should reason enough for them to find a job in another line of work.

[SoCalMusicLover]

61. But....But.....But.....Their Job Is So Dangerous

You can't hold them to a higher standard, because they risk their life on a daily basis. Therefore, they're exempt.

So some innocent civilians get killed from time to time. If it saves a pig's life, it's worth it.

Shoot First, worry about the details later. Follow with thoughts & prayers.

[christx30]

50. "Liberty and justice for all" are in the Declaration Of Independence,

which carries no legal weight in US court proceedings. It was people giving the reasons for rebelling against the government of England. "We have the right to rebel and separate ourselves from England, and here's why we're doing it. We think taxes are too high, the government is too bureaucratic, too many wars, ect" Like a really well written blog post.
The Constitution (which does have legal weight) has a preamble which states:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America"

But after that flowery language, it's just about how the government is formed.

[madokie]

22. Guilty of being born Black

this bullshit has to stop and NOW. I was born white trash so I'm pretty much in the same boat as this gentleman. I don't carry and I'm as well behaved as I can possibly be when I have the misfortune to have a run in with the law. Not saying or implying that this gentleman wasn't nor didn't do the same. His crime was his skin color and his skin color only.

We really need to have this conversation of LEO's on Minorities in a big way here in this country. This country that was stolen from the rightful owners years ago. Who happen to be minorities today btw.

[Odin2005]

23. WTF was going on in the cops minds? "Black guy with gun, must be dangerous"???

I am getting so sick of this shit.

[JustAnotherGen]

26. Why the hell is she in CUSTODY?

Can anyone find what they charged her with?

She is NOT safe if that cops buddies have her. Dear god someone get her out of there. They are blood thirsty!

[forgotmylogin]

34. The girlfriend said there was weed in the car.

Which is completely superfluous to the events that took place, but that's probably why she was arrested.

[AtheistCrusader]

38. Depending on how much was in the car, they may hit her with a Felony Murder charge.

Which will never fly in court, but she's obviously pissed them off by live-blogging the shooting, so they'll throw every fucking thing they can lift at her.

[JustAnotherGen]

45. That's why you NEVER trust a cop

Never. Ever. You don't talk to them, you don't let them in your home -

Don't ever trust those people.

[safeinOhio]

49. True that.

I was married to a cop. They are trained to lie to you as is legal for them, but not you.

She had told me many times that "I belong to the largest gang in the country, you mess with one of us and you mess with all of us".

I have a Tee shirt she gave me that said, "You have the right to remain silent, any thing you say will be misquoted and used against you".

I've learned that at least 92% of cops lie and cheat and that gives the 8% a bad name. I can prove it by asking any cop if they have ever given or received a "professional courtesy". If they have they have violated their oath of office and the Constitution..That can mean giving another cop a pass on a speeding ticket, all of the way to lying under oath to protect another.

[Sand Rat Expat]

63. It's not just cops who benefit.

When I was a dispatcher, I got pulled over for speeding on my way to work one night. It was a county sheriff's deputy, not a city cop. I worked for the city force.

Anyway, he did the usual "Where you going in such a hurry, son?" I told him I was running a bit late for work. He asked me where I worked. I replied with the name of the police department. He said, dripping sarcasm, "Oh really?" I wore my badge in a lanyard holder around my neck... turned it over, big red POLICE on the front, and he stared at it for a second before saying, "Slow down, have a nice night" and walked back to his bike.

In fairness, I didn't ask for any "professional courtesy" but I sure wasn't in a hurry to volunteer to pay the ticket he might have written me.

Hilarious story, too... I was on a ride-along once with a cop I was friends with. Got a call about a burglary in progress. Long story short, it was two kids who'd burgled a neighbor's house across the street, and my buddy caught them with the swag after he got a warrant. He's putting them in the squadcar, and lo and behold, the dad of the family gets home from work.

He pulls my buddy aside, and I follow along out of curiosity. I'm close enough to overhear him ask my buddy if this can be "overlooked, as a courtesy" and he flashes his badge. The dad was DEA. My buddy nodded politely, made a note of the badge number, and followed it up with the local DEA office. DEA Daddy lost his job.

[Blue_Tires]

27. Second time in as many nights

I told folks way back when that Zimmerman's acquittal was a green light for open season on black folks, and everyone here pissed on me for saying so...

[yallerdawg]

28. Another mindnumbing tragedy.

Reconcile this.

We have a "Constitutionally-guaranteed right to ...keep and bear arms that shall not be infringed."

The police can and seem to be very likely to legally execute us if we do.

?

[sarisataka]

35. So is the solution

To disarm average citizens?
(I have seen the suggestion on DU today that because police are shooting legally armed POC we need to ban guns fron civilians "until our representatives get a handle on this&quot

[forgotmylogin]

39. Perhaps the solution is a "don't shoot me!" bag in the car.

A smart, zippered pouch that attaches to the inside of the driver's side door and is accessible for the officer to take when the window is completely rolled down. In this, one keeps their license, insurance, and registration plus any legal weapons an officer needs to know about. That way everything necessary during a stop is in reach of the policeman, and the driver can keep their hands on the wheel so nobody gets shot by an overly-twitchy cop.

[sarisataka]

40. That would make more sense

that disarming everyone but police. Also I'm not saying we should have to go to such extremes during a police encounter.

One problem I see there are some locales where people have impersonated police officers. Drivers are advised to only lower the window enough to pass needed documents out. In such a case then would an actual police officer shoot through the window "just to be safe"?

[forgotmylogin]

44. Tail lights might not have even been broken...

This twitter post alleges to show the car at night with all headlights and tail lights seemingly lit in proper order.

https://twitter.com/WintanaMN/status/750937511149481984

Perhaps it was a brake light, but this gets more and more sketchy as time goes on.

[villager]

46. Cops will say anything to "legally" pull you over -- and our kangaroo courts have given leeway

...the latitude and ridiculousness of excuses.

I had a bored cop here in L.A. pull me over for a "lane change" on a quiet side street that he happened to be on.

That was a "between car" I was in, with a banged up bumper, so he was really pulling me over for "banged up car I want to nose around in for a fishing expedition."

Instead he found a middle aged guy with a young son next to him, insurance in order, and much to his frustration, nothing he could actually generate any serious municipal revenue over.

I can only imagine the flimsiness of "legal" excuses when one is "challengingly pigmented."