Police chief defends fatal shooting in San Diego

EL CAJON, CALIF.— The fatal police shooting of a Ugandan refugee who drew something from his pocket and extended his hands in a “shooting stance” happened about a minute after officers in a San Diego suburb arrived at the scene where a mentally unstable man was reportedly walking in traffic, police said Wednesday.

It took police more than an hour to respond because of other calls, El Cajon Lt. Rob Ransweiler said. Officers arrived at a parking lot next to a Mexican fast-food restaurant at about 2:10 p.m. Tuesday and the man was shot about a minute later.

Mayor Bill Wells said he was concerned about the short time from the officers’ arrival to the shooting, but said video taken by a bystander was enlightening and he didn’t think it was “tremendously complicated to figure out what happened.”

Police said the man had refused to comply with instructions to remove a hand from his pants pocket and paced back and forth before rapidly drawing an object from the pocket.

Some protesters said he was shot while his hands were raised in the air, though police disputed that and produced a single frame from the cellphone video to back their account. The image showed the man in a “shooting stance.” His hands were clasped together and he was pointing directly at an officer who had assumed a similar posture a few feet away. That officer fired his handgun and a second officer simultaneously fired his electric stun gun, Chief Jeff Davis said. He would not identify the object the man was holding, but said it was not a weapon. The victim was Alfred Olango. The single photo is all police released depicting the incident that sparked angry protests by demonstrators demanding more information and wanting to know how police could shoot an unarmed man.