Controversy rages around police killing

Sacramento chief says state official will oversee investigation

The body of Stephon Clark will be laid to rest this week in Sacramento, but the controversy surrounding the police-involved shooting of a 22-yearold black man continues to rage in California’s capital city.

Clark was shot in his grandmother’s backyard after a police pursuit March 18. Police body cameras captured the chase and an officer shouting “gun!” moments before the shooting. No weapon was found.

Daniel Hahn, the city’s first African-American police chief, announced Tuesday that state Attorney General Xavier Becerra would provide “independent oversight” in the inquiry. Becerra said his office’s review would include police protocols and procedures.

“I have complete confidence in the detectives in my department,” Hahn said. “But due to the nature of this investigation, the extremely high emotions, anger and hurt in our city, I felt it was in the best interests of our entire community, including the Police Department, to ask the attorney general to be part of the investigation.”

Hahn said the city’s release of the body camera recordings was an example of the transparency he pledged to bring to the investigation.

Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who represents the Clark family, called the shooting an execution. “Like all the rest of America, you’re shocked when you watch this video,” Crump said Monday. “You watch a human being executed, and you say, ‘For what? Why did they have to do what they did to him?’ ”

The officers had responded to a 911 call about someone breaking car windows in the neighborhood. Police said the suspect fled and ignored a command to halt and show his hands.