Officer Howie Lake II. (Facebook)
The two Baton Rouge police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling will not face federal charges, sources told the Washington Post.
The Justice Department is expected to announce its decision in the next 24 hours, the Post reported on May 2, 2017, nearly a year after the Louisiana shooting.
Sterling was killed early Tuesday morning outside a convenience store.
The officers have been named as Officer Howie Lake II and Officer Blane Salamoni. The shooting was caught on video by a witness, and has spread across the Internet, leading to protests and outrage on social media.
Sterling was shot and killed about 12:35 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5, 2016, The Advocate reports.
He was selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart, at the corner of Fairfields Avenue and North Foster Drive, WAFB-TV reports.
The officers had responded to a disturbance call in which the caller said someone had been threatening him with a gun, police told the news station.
The officers, who were interviewed Wednesday, both said they “believe they were completely justified in using deadly force,” East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said at a press conference.
Here’s what you need to know about the shooting and Officer Lake:
1. Lake Was Placed on Leave in 2014 After He Shot a Suspect
Howie Lake in high school.
Officer Howie Lake II is a three-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department. He is a member of the uniform patrol division.
Lake, 28, was put on administrative leave in 2014 after he was one of six officers who shot a 28-year-old man, Kevin Knight, WAFB-TV reported at the time. Knight survived the shooting.
According to police, the officers shot Knight after he fired at them.
Lake won a “life saving” award in 2015, according to the department’s Facebook page.
He attended Parkview Baptist High School in Baton Rouge, graduating in 2006. He then played college football, as an offensive lineman, at Louisiana College. Lake is married.
2. The 48-Second Video Shows the Moments Leading Up to the Shooting
The brief video, which you can watch above, shows the end of the incident. In the video, an officer can be heard yelling “get on the ground,” out of the view of the cell phone camera. As the camera pans up, an officer is seen charging at Alton Sterling, grabbing him and tackling him into the hood of a car and then down to the pavement.
Another officer can then be seen kneeling on Sterling. After a few seconds one of the officers yells, “He’s got a gun!” The officer seen in the video kneeling on Sterling draws his weapon and one of them says, “if you f*cking move, I swear to God!”
Two shots can then be heard and the bystander drops the cell phone. Three more shots are then fired after a brief pause.
The store’s owner, Abdullah Muflahi, told The Advocate that Sterling was armed, but said he was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident, the Advocate reports. The gun was later found in his pocket, Muflahi told the newspaper. Police have not confirmed his version of events.
You can watch video of Muflahi talking about what he saw during the shooting, recorded by a reporter for The Advocate, below:
Abdullah Muflahi, owner of store where Alton Sterling killed in BR, describes seeing shooting by officer
Another video: Abdullah Muflahi, owner of Triple S store, says officer killed his friend, Alton Sterling
Muflahi told The Advocate that Sterling began carrying a gun after he was mugged. He said a Taser was used by the officers on Sterling, but it did not bring him to the ground. The sound of the stun gun can be heard at the start of the video.
Alton Sterling. (Twitter)
Sterling was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting, the Baton Rouge Police Department said in a press release.
An autopsy was conducted later Tuesday. He died of multiple gunshot wounds to the back and chest, the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office told WBRZ-TV.
The wounds to the back were entrance wounds, the coroner told Heavy.com.
3. Salamoni Is a 4-Year Veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Force
Blane Salamoni. (Facebook)
Officer Blane Salamoni is a four-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department, authorities said.
Salamoni, 28, works in the uniform patrol division. His wife is a local EMT.
Like Lake, Salamoni won a “life saving” award in 2015, according to the department’s Facebook page.
Salamoni graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 2006, according to the school’s website. He then graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2010.
His father, Captain Noel Salamoni, is the commander of the Baton Rouge department’s Special Operations Division and was a finalist for the city’s police chief job in 2013. His mother, Melissa, is a retired police captain.
4. The Officers’ Body Cameras ‘Fell Off’ During the Incident
Very large crowd at Triple S Food Mart, scene of earlier officer involved fatal shooting @theadvocatebr
The investigation into the shooting has been turned over to the FBI, the Baton Rouge Police Department said.
Police said in a statement on Facebook that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
In addition to the witness video, police said they have surveillance video from the convenience store and dash camera video from police vehicles.
The officers were wearing body cameras, but they fell off during the incident, State Representative Denise Marcelle told WAFB-TV. She said Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. told her about the cameras falling off, and said they do not show the shooting as a result.
Sterling’s family has called for all other video showing the shooting to be released, while police have asked any witnesses who recorded video to turn it over to them to aid in the investigation.
5. The Shooting Led to Protests in Baton Rouge
Protestors now parking in street to block traffic, raising fiats & chanting “black lives matter” #AltonSterling
A large crowd of protesters, including Sterling’s family members and friends, gathered at the scene of the shooting throughout the day Tuesday, with the group growing at night, according to reporters at the scene.
The protesters briefly shut down traffic:
North Foster shut down in front of store where #AltonSterling shot by BR police. Bkgrnd: t.co/N6CKVsh9fF
Protestors now parking in street to block traffic, raising fiats & chanting “black lives matter” #AltonSterling
Traffic moving again, as protestors in street yell at drivers to come down to Baton Rouge city hall at 8am tomorrow.
Sterling’s name was trending worldwide on Twitter and on Facebook Tuesday night as the video was shared across social media.
Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden told the news station there will be a thorough investigation.
“This is not going to be a cover up,” Holden said.
Congressman Cedric Richmond, a Democrat who represents the 2nd District of Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, has called for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in a statement released early Wednesday morning:
The video footage released today of the shooting of Alton Sterling by officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department was deeply troubling and has understandably evoked strong emotion and anger in our community,” said Rep. Richmond. “I share in this anger and join the community in the pursuit of justice. My prayers and thoughts are with Mr. Sterling’s family as they deal with this tragedy.”
There are a number of unanswered questions surrounding Mr. Sterling’s death. Including questions about the initial calls for police presence, the level of force used by officers, the verbal and physical altercation, and the response of the officers after he was shot. I call on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a full and transparent investigation into this incident. The cause of justice requires state and local law enforcement to join in this request as soon as possible.
“I ask the leaders and citizens of Baton Rouge to join me in demonstrating our anger with dignity and demanding proper focus on our cause with perseverance,” Richmond said. “His family and the citizens of Baton Rouge–especially the citizens of North Baton Rouge–deserve answers and that is what we will seek in a fair, thorough, and transparent way.”
