San Jose police release video from fatal shooting by undercover officer
SAN JOSE, Calif. - As calls grew louder for more answers in the fatal police shooting of a 31-year-old in San Jose, the police department on Wednesday released new evidence on what led up to the incident.
The city's police chief said the involved officer, who was undercover at the time, had no choice but to open fire on the suspect who was armed with a handgun.
"This incident has become an incident of extraordinary public interest," Chief Anthony Mata said before the footage was made public.
The San Jose Police Department released surveillance video from the incident 48 hours after it happened, as opposed to waiting up to 45 days, which is standard protocol.
Video taken from outside a home in San Jose shows a man identified as Demetrius Stanley holding a 9mm handgun, according to Mata. He walks past an unmarked police vehicle with an undercover cop inside, but comes back. He then opens the driver's side door and points his gun at the undercover officer.
The officer opens fire, killing Stanley.
"There was no plan to arrest or make contact with Stanley or to take any enforcement action whatsoever," Mata said.
South Bay NAACP President Rev. Jethro Moore ll questioned why Stanley was under police surveillance.
"Another young Black man has died at the hands of police," Moore ll said.
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Investigators revealed Stanley was a suspect in an armed robbery stemming from a road rage incident in March. Mata said that Stanley pointed a gun at a "youth" driving another car while stealing something from the car.
But his killing, the second fatal police shooting in the city this year, is sparking protests.
"His family is grieving. Some family members lost their best friend. They don't understand how this happened." said Kiana Simmons, president of HERO Tent, a grassroots organization focused on sustaining human rights.
Activists say the issue isn't whether Stanley was armed, but why the undercover officers around his home never announced their identity until after the shooting.
"Our young people are hurt and we're tired of seeing Black kids killed by cops," Moore ll said.