Ramsey County just released the police dashcam video of the police officer shooting Philando Castile in his vehicle at just after 9pm on July 6, 2016.
Watch the video below but be warned it’s GRAPHIC. The shooting happens within the first two minutes:
Castile tells the officer that he does have a firearm on him and the officer tells him that’s ok but not to reach for it.
Castile says he’s reaching for it but the officer repeats for Castile not to pull it out and Castile responds “I’m gonna have to pull it out”. The officer once again tells Castile not to pull it out and then we see the officer draw his gun and he begins shooting multiple times into the vehicle.
While we can’t see into the vehicle, the officer clearly tells Castile not to reach for or pull out his weapon. It sounds as though Castile insists on doing so and then we hear gunfire.
The whole thing is regrettable, but if an officer tells you not to go for your gun, you DO NOT go for your gun. Period.
I’m not a cop so I’m not even close to an expert on this, however as someone with common sense I’m just not sure what the officer could have done differently based on this video.
What’s more than clear is just how upset the officer was afterward. He clearly didn’t want to shoot Castile.