Within hours, the Minnesota governor was pressing for the Justice Department to open its second investigation of the week into the death of a black man at the hands of police.
The latest shooting happened late Wednesday in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights.
In the video, Diamond Reynolds describes being pulled over for a “busted tail light” and says her boyfriend had told the officer he was carrying a gun for which he was licensed.
As word of the shooting spread, relatives of the man joined scores of people who gathered at the scene and outside the hospital where he died. They identified him as Philando Castile of St. Paul, a well-liked 32- year-old cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school.
Reynolds said Thursday that he was killed even though he complied with the officer’s instructions. She told reporters that Castile did “nothing but what the police officer asked of us, which was to put your hands in the air and get your license and registration.”
In addition to seeking help from the Justice Department, Gov. Mark Dayton said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had opened its own investigation.
Speaking to CNN, Castile’s mother said she suspected she would never learn the whole truth about her son’s death.
“I think he was just black in the wrong place,” Valerie Castile said early Thursday, adding that she had underlined to her children that they must do what authorities tell them to do to survive.
“I know my son … we know black people have been killed … I always told them, whatever you do when you get stopped by police, comply, comply, comply.”
Police did not release any details about the officer who fired except to say he had been placed on paid administrative leave.
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