Authorities said Nicholas Robertson was armed and turning toward sheriff’s deputies when they fired a hail of bullets, killing him in Lynwood, Calif., Saturday. But a mobile phone video appears to show him walking away, KTLA reports.
According to the official account, the deputies were responding to calls about a man firing a gun. They found Robertson, who they said fit the description, walking and ordered him several times to drop the weapon.
Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated that witnesses at the scene said Robertson, 28, turned and pointed a weapon at the officers.
But a video seems to tell a different story. KTLA said it received the footage from a source who did not want to be identified.
It appears to show Robertson walking away from the two deputies. He falls to the ground after at least 12 shots were fired at him. Following a pause, more shots are fired at Robertson while he crawls away.
Hernandez stated that Robertson had a .45-caliber handgun with two bullets. Robertson’s family, however, said he was unarmed.
“The video is just one piece of evidence that’s going to be examined as a part of a comprehensive, protracted, long investigation, and that’ll be analyzed against the physical evidence, the witness statements and the deputies’ statements,” Hernandez said, according to KTLA.
Protesters arrived at the scene Saturday and demanded an explanation for the shooting.
“Do you want to tell me why, in what circumstances, it would be justified to shoot somebody on their knees?” one woman said, KTLA reports.
The sheriff's department said it would hold a press conference Sunday to discuss the shooting.
Read more at KTLA.