A major furor is raging — and growing — over a graphic video apparently shot by a bystander that shows a Baton Rouge police officer shooting and killing Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was selling CDs in front of a convenience store early Tuesday. The video contains the utterly shocked reaction of witnesses to the event. Two police officers have been placed on administrative leave.

One of the major pieces of video now going through Twitter and the news media as quick as a bolt of lighting is Sterling’s weeping 15 year old son saying “I want my daddy.”

WARNING: the video above is indeed graphic.’

The story is being picked up much for the news media, with The Huffington Post putting it as the lead story with the headline:

EXECUTION IN BATON ROUGE

Louisiana Man Alton Sterling Killed By Police… Graphic Video Shows Sterling Restrained —
And Then Shot In The Chest And Back… Was Selling CDs In Front Of A Convenience Store…
558th Person Killed By Police This Year… FLASHBACK MAY: Louisiana Passes ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Cop Protection Law… Protests Erupt… Congressman Calls For Investigation…

Here’s the account given by The Advocate, which is now forming the basis of mainstream media reaction, and also being re-reported by by news outlets using their own reporters and writers:

Baton Rouge police did not provide much information about what escalated the incident between the officers and Sterling or what prompted an officer to fire his weapon. A witness, however, described police as “aggressive” and said Sterling was armed but was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident. Police later retrieved a gun from the man’s pocket, said the witness, shop owner Abdullah Muflahi.

Around 12:35 a.m., Baton Rouge police responded to the Triple S Food Mart at 2112 N. Foster Drive after an anonymous caller indicated that a man in a red shirt who was selling CDs outside the store pointed a gun at someone, telling them to leave the property, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said.

East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark said the initial results of an autopsy performed Tuesday show Sterling died due to a homicide and suffered multiple — meaning more than two — gunshot wounds to the chest and back.

A 48-second cellphone video captured by a bystander — which circulated at a protest about the shooting later in the day — shows an officer firing at least one round into a man’s chest outside what appears to be the Triple S store, followed by the sound of at least four more shots as the camera veers away.

“Get on the ground! Get on the ground!” an officer is heard yelling in the beginning of the clip.

Two officers are seen wrangling a heavy-set man in a red shirt against a silver sedan before pulling him to the ground on his back.

One officer is seen pulling the man’s left arm down while he pressed down on the man’s chest. The man’s right arm is not visible in the video.

“He’s got a gun! Gun,” an officer says, prompting the lawman closest to the camera to draw an object from his holster.

“You f*****g move, I swear to God,” says an officer, before the second officer, farther from the viewer, is seen pointing a weapon down at the man’s chest.

There’s a flash from that officer’s weapon, accompanied by the sound of shots.

“They shot him?” a man’s harried voice, close to the microphone, says in the video. “Yes!” a weeping woman replies.

As the news spread, demonstrations took place and grew and police administration finally reacted:

Protesters called for more demonstrations Wednesday following a night of unrest over the fatal shooting of a black man by police officers that was caught on video outside a Baton Rouge convenience store.

The two officers have been placed on administrative following the incident early Tuesday. The officers have not been identified.

Officers responded to the store about 12:35 a.m. Tuesday after an anonymous caller indicated a man, later identified as Alton Sterling, 37, selling music CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun, Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said.

Two officers responded and some type of altercation with the man ensued. One officer fatally shot the suspect, McKneely said. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy, he said.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who called for the Department of Justice to investigate the killing, said officials claimed both officers had body cameras “but they fell off during the struggle and do not show the shooting.”

The store’s owner, Abdul Muflahi, told WAFB-TV that the first officer used a stun gun on Sterling and the second officer tackled the man. Muflahi said as Sterling fought to get the officer off him, the first officer shot him “four to six times.”

A 48-second cellphone video of the incident purportedly captured by a bystander shows an officer firing at least one round into a man’s chest followed by the sound of at least four shots as the camera abruptly turns away, The Advocate reported.

“Get on the ground, get on the ground!” one officer yells at the beginning of the video clip.

One officer is seen pulling the man’s left arm down while pressing down on the man’s chest. The man’s right arm is not visible in the video.

“He’s got a gun! Gun,” one officer says, prompting another officer, visible in the video, to draw a weapon and point it down at the man’s chest following by a flash from the gun.

The owner of the store said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling’s pocket after the shooting.

This is one of a series of events in recent years that have raised the issue of when and how police use force, and helped fuel the group Black Lives Matter. Look for this latest chapter to add more fuel to the often emotional discussion, which involve strong feelings by people on both si. And his comes within the context of a Presidential election year, when issues could be picked up and whipped up for political gain.

Among the many issues incidents like this have raosed about the use of police deadly force against African-Americans is the larger issue of when police should use deadly force. If a police officer has trouble with a suspect and can’t get him or her under control, and is not being directly threatened with the suspect using deadly force, when — if ever — is it legitimate for a police officer to kill a suspect to make the job easier of stopping the suspect’s resistance? And are improved police training over use of deadly force enough? Do these instances reflect a failure of training or just incidents that don’t reflect the larger success of new criteria?

Meanwhile, the storm unfolds on Twitter:

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

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