SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Police Department has released two pieces of body camera video and one piece of helicopter video from the night officers shot and killed Stephon Clark in the backyard of his home in South Sacramento.
Officers responded to the area along 29th Street and 69th Avenue after reports that a man had been breaking into cars. Police say they found three cars with broken windows.
A search of the neighborhood led officers to encounter Clark in the backyard of his grandparents’ home, where he was staying. Video shows officers demand to see Clark’s hands and chase him from the side driveway to the backyard.
One officer shouts, “Gun!” before he and another officer take cover behind a wall. The officer again shouts, “Show me your hands! Gun, gun, gun!” and both open fire.
Police Chief Daniel Hahn says officers fired 20 shots at Clark.
Clark was unarmed, holding only a cellphone.
The officers keep their guns drawn on Clark for several minutes until backup arrives, as seen in the officers’ body camera footage. In front of the home, minutes after the shooting, the officers mute the microphones on their body cameras.
Aerial footage provides a clearer picture of the shooting.
The clip begins with the pilot saying Clark had just broken the neighboring home’s window, which turned out to be a sliding glass door to the backyard, according to a press release. Clark jumps the fence from the backyard into his grandparents’ backyard. He then stands by a truck in the driveway before running back behind the home.
The video then shows Clark collapsing as officers open fire. Shots continue after Clark is already on the ground, on his stomach.
Related:
Man shot to death by police in own family's backyard had a cellphone, not a gun
