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BATON ROUGE, LA (Source: WAFB) –WARNING: Some may find the cellphone video disturbing and graphic.
Cellphone footage circulated on social media shows Tuesday morning’s deadly police shooting of a man outside of a Baton Rouge convenience store.
The video appears to show Alton Sterling, 37, on the ground with two Baton Rouge police officers over him. One of the officers appears to be yelling that Sterling has a gun. After that, a series of gunshots is heard.
Sterling was dead when paramedics arrived at the scene. The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office released Tuesday afternoon that the cause of death for Sterling was multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
The video surfaced hours after the coroner released the cause of death.
The owner of the store where the shooting happened said he saw officers pull a gun from Sterling’s pocket after the shooting. Police have not confirmed whether or not Sterling was in possession of a gun.
According to early police reports, officers were called to the Triple S Food Mart off North Foster after getting a report of an armed man. Investigators said there was an altercation between police and that suspect, Sterling, in the parking lot.
Abdul Muflahi, who owns the store and knew Sterling, said he saw the shooting happen. According to Muflahi, one officer tased Sterling and a second officer then tackled him. He said that when the first officer then fired shots.
