Perpetrator
Victim
What happened:
Alton Sterling was a 37 year old black man, selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart, at the corner of Fairfields Avenue and North Foster Drive in Baton Rouge Lousiana on July 5 2016 . According to witnesses, a homeless man got into an argument with Sterling after Sterling repeatedly told the man to leave him alone. Sterling then flashed a firearm and the homeless man used his cell phone to call 911. When officers arrived, they confronted Sterling, tased him, forced him to the ground and shot several times at close range while held down on the ground by Baton Rouge Police Department Officers Howie Lake II and Blane Salamoni. Despite video footage, there was no evidence that Sterling ever reached for a gun or acted in a way that necessitated him being shot multiple times while on the ground.
Outcome:
After the shooting Lake II and Salamoni were placed on administrative leave. A criminal investigation, led by the U.S. Department of Justice, was undertaken, in which the the FBI and state police were involved. However in May 2, 2017, they decided that it would not file criminal charges against the police officers.
After this decision was made by the Department of Justice, Louisiana’s attorney general. Jeff Landry, said that the state of Louisiana would open an investigation into the shooting once the Department of Justice releases the physical evidence.
A federal civil rights investigation was also conducted.
Sources:
- https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/baton-rouge-alton-sterling-shooting/index.html
- Ruiz, Rebecca R. (2017-05-02). “Officers Won’t Be Charged in Black Man’s Shooting Death in Louisiana”. The New York Times.
Date:
2016-07-05Location:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Blane Salamoni, 28, is a white male.
He works in the uniform patrol division. His wife is a local EMT. Salamoni graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 2006. 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.