EL CAJON, Calif. — Video footage released Friday of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in a San Diego suburb shows an officer fired four shots almost immediately after the man suddenly raised both hands and took what was described as a shooting stance.
The video was released after three nights of unruly and, at times, violent protests, and on the eve of a large demonstration called for by the man's family, who had pressured officials to show the full footage of the fatal encounter.
In addition to the short cellphone video shot by a worker at a Mexican restaurant drive-through window, authorities also released surveillance footage shot from a similar vantage point.
The surveillance video showed Officer Richard Gonsalves with his gun drawn approaching Alfred Olango, 38, who moves side to side and backs up toward a white pickup truck. The heads of both men are blurred in the video.
Police Chief Jeff Davis said the decision to release the video came out of a concern for public safety after demonstrations had become increasingly violent.
On Thursday night a small group of protesters threw rocks, bottles and bricks at police, and one officer was struck in the head.
Olango, a Ugandan refugee who arrived in the United States as a boy, was fatally shot Tuesday by an El Cajon officer responding to dispatches about a mentally unstable man behaving erratically and walking in traffic.
Police said Olango had not obeyed an order to remove a hand from his pants pocket and was fatally shot after he quickly drew an object from the pocket and pointed it at an officer in a "shooting stance," police said. The object was an e-cigarette device.
According to his family, he was grief-stricken by the recent death of a close friend and fellow refugee.