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Both officers identified by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are on administrative leave.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Authorities say St. Anthony Police were conducting a traffic stop when an officer fired at least one shot at Philando Castile in the car. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment, where he later died, family members confirmed.(Photo: Family/Facebook)
Jeronimo Yanez, the police officer who killed a black driver during a suburban Minnesota<span style="color: Red;">*</span>traffic stop this week,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reacted to the man's gun<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>not his race<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his attorney said Saturday.
St. Anthony Police Officer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Yanez was reacting to "the presence of that gun and the display of that gun" when he opened fire on and killed Philando<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Castile, Minneapolis attorney Thomas Kelly told the Associated Press in an interview Saturday.
Kelly<span style="color: Red;">*</span>declined to further elaborate to the AP<span style="color: Red;">*</span>how Castile, 32, displayed the weapon or the events that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>led up to the deadly Wednesday traffic stop.
Diamond Reynolds, Castile's girlfriend who was a passenger in the car,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>streamed the direct<span style="color: Red;">*</span>aftermath of the shooting live on Facebook. Reynolds said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Castile<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was shot several times after telling the officer he had a gun and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a permit to carry it.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>She also<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Castile was shot while reaching for his wallet.
But Kelly maintains Yanez "was reacting to the actions of the driver."
"This had nothing to do with race. This had everything to do with the presence of a gun," Kelly said.
Yanez, who is Latino and has served on the St. Anthony Police Force for four years, is distraught and saddened over the shooting, Kelly said.
The shooting took<span style="color: Red;">*</span>place in St. Paul suburb of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Falcon Heights, a mostly white community of 5,000,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>served primarily by the nearby St. Anthony Police Department.
Authorities say that during the traffic stop, Yanez approached Castile's car from the driver's side and another officer, Joseph Kauser, approached from the passenger side. Yanez opened fire, striking the driver Castile "multiple times."
Neither Reynolds, nor her daughter in the car were injured. Castile was transported to a medical center where he was pronounced dead.
Yanez and Kauser<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were put on "standard" administrative leave, as the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) conducts "an independent investigation into the incident," according to a news release by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The BCA<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said "several" videos, including squad car video, "have been collected as evidence."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>St. Anthony Police Department officers do not wear body cameras, the BCA release noted, and a gun was recovered on the scene.
Saturday marked a third straight day of protests over Castile's killing, with demonstrators encamped outside the governor's mansion in St. Paul. About 30 protesters formed a circle in the street late in the morning as an organizer pray for peace and togetherness.
Rev. Jesse Jackson made a surprise visit to the governor's mansion Saturday after spending the day with Reynolds and her daughter. Jackson said the shooting death was a wake-up call for America and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>urged unity, saying, "the whole world is watching,”
“We learned to survive apart, now we must learn to live together. We must learn to live together,” said Jackson.
Contributing: The Associated Press, KARE-TV
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