SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Relatives, activists and Sacramento officials are questioning why police shot at an unarmed black man 20 times, killing him, when he turned out to be holding only a cellphone in his grandparents' backyard.
Police say the man was spotted breaking vehicle windows Sunday night. Sheriff's deputies in a helicopter say they saw him break a neighbor's sliding glass door.
Two arriving officers chased him into the backyard of his grandparents' home, where he was staying. The department says they opened fire when he pointed what they thought was a handgun.
No gun was found.
Relatives identify the man as 22-year-old Stephan Clark. Clark's grandmother, Sequita Thompson, questioned the officers' decision to fire at Clark while he was in his own backyard. She told The Sacramento Bee, "they didn't have to do that."
This story has been corrected to identify the grandmother as Sequita Thompson, not Thomas.