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Stephon Clark Shooting: Graphic Sacramento PD Video Of 20 Shots Fired At Cellphone-Holding Stephon Released

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 14:49 PST, Mar 21, 2018

Twenty-two-year-old Stephon Clark, a father of two, was shot and killed by two Sacramento Police officers in Sacramento, California, on Sunday, March 18. Now that the Sacramento Police Department has released the bodycam footage from the police officers’ cameras, and the below videos are the source of heated outrage online.

As reported by ABC 10, police responding to a 911 call said they initially thought Stephon was holding a pipe or weapon of some sort in his hands, but later discovered Stephon was only holding a cellphone. The Clark shooting happened in the backyard of his grandmother where Stephon was living. The home can be seen in the above photo, where mourners gathered outside on Wednesday, March 21, beneath a cross hanging above the garage.

Stephon Alonzo Clark was killed after Sacramento Police say they were looking into a report of a man who had broken three or more vehicle windows. The graphic video footage released on Wednesday shows differing vantage points of the officers – with at least one officer yelling, “Gun!” However, no gun was recovered from the scene, reports the New York Daily News.

As seen in a video from the Sacramento Bee, Stephon’s grandmother, Sequita Thompson, spoke of hearing gunfire ringing out that night, causing her to crawl on the floor to grab a nearby 7-year-old girl off of the couch and lead her to safety. It would take hours for her to learn that her grandson Stephon lay dead in the backyard.

Warning: Graphic video below.

According to the Sacramento Police Media Relations news release, police were sent to the area at 9:13 p.m. Sunday night, looking for a black male who was six-feet tall and dressed in a black hoodie with dark pants, who had been seen breaking into vehicles. Sequita said that her grandson wasn’t nearly that tall.

Authorities discovered a minimum of three vehicles that had been damaged. A nearby home suffered a shattered sliding glass door. Cops reportedly chased the suspect into the yard where the shooting happened, with authorities claiming Stephon turned to face them with his arms extended. That’s when the police mistook Clark’s cellphone for a gun and opened fire.

The police released several videos related to the incident in the below YouTube playlist, some of which might be disturbing to viewers.

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