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Ugandan refugee
Alfred Olango was shot four times by officer Richard Gonsalves
in the parking lot of a taco stand in the San Diego suburb of El
Cajon after pulling a metallic vaping device from his pocket and
pointing it at police.
The incident, the latest in a string of shootings of mostly
unarmed black men by police, touched off days of protests and
calls by activists for a federal investigation.
"After carefully reviewing the facts, the evidence and the law,
we’ve determined the officer’s use of deadly force was
reasonable under the circumstances and he bears no criminal
liability for his actions," San Diego County District Attorney
Bonnie Dumanis told reporters at an afternoon press conference.
Dumanis said the shooting was legally justified because it was
reasonable to conclude that Gonsalves, a 21-year veteran of the
El Cajon Police Department, believed his life was in danger from
Olango.
Gonsalves and a second officer, who fired a Taser device at
Olango, were both placed on administrative leave during an
investigation into the incident by the district attorney's
office.
Two El Cajon police officers encountered Olango after receiving
calls about a "mentally unstable" man walking in traffic.
Olango's mother later told reporters she believes her son was
having a mental breakdown because of the recent death of a
friend.
Police have said Olango ignored commands to take his hand out of
his pocket before pulling out an object later determined to be a
vaping device used to inhale nicotine. Olango assumed a
"shooting stance" and pointed the device, police said. No gun
was found at the scene.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb)
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