Yet another unarmed black man has been killed by police officers.
Rumain Brisbon, 34, was shot and killed during a struggle with a Phoenix police officer, Reuters reported.
Brisbon was sitting in a black SUV in a convenience store parking lot, when two witnesses told the officer that people inside the car were selling drugs. Phoenix Police said in a statement that the officer called for backup, and then thought he saw Brisbon move something from the backseat of the car.
The statement said that the officer gave Brisbon several orders to show his hands, and that Brisbon then “placed one or both hands in his waistband area” and fled the scene. The officer chased Brisbon and apprehended him, and it was during this struggle that the officer thought he felt a gun in Brisbon’s pocket.
“The officer gave the suspect several commands to get on the ground but he refused to comply, yelling profanities at the officer,” said the statement.
The struggle continued into Brisbon’s girlfriend’s apartment, where her kids were in a back room, according to a report from CBS5 News.
The statement said that the officer was unable to keep a grip on Brisbon’s hand, and that is when the shooting took place.
“Fearing Brisbon had a gun in his pocket the officer fired two rounds striking Brisbon in the torso,” said the statement. Backup officers arrived, and along with members of the fire department, treated Brisbon, who was pronounced dead on the scene.
Police reported that Brisbon was carrying oxycodone, and that they did find a semi-automatic handgun and a jar of what they believe is marijuana in the Cadillac.
CBS5 reported that a friend of Brisbon said told them that Brisbon did, in fact, have a medical marijuana card. The friend also said that he had never seen Brisbon selling drugs.
“The shooting in Phoenix comes at a time of tension between law enforcement officers and communities in which they operate,” said Reuters. “Two grand jury decisions not to indict officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City have triggered protests throughout the United States.”
Watch CBS5’s coverage of the shooting.
