Crowds gathered in the Californian city of El Cajon to protest against US police brutality after the killing of Alfred Olango, an unarmed black man, as the FBI joined an investigation into his death according to a report carried by aljazeera.com.
According to family and witnesses, police officers fired a taser and then several bullets at Olango, a 38-year-old Ugandan refugee, after his sister called the department for assistance because her sibling was acting strangely, and not like himself.
Police were called by Olango’s sister who said he was acting strangely and not himself. The aftermath of the fatal shooting was filmed by a bystander who posted the clip on Facebook. That video has been viewed about 40,000 times.
“Why couldn’t you tase him? I told you he is sick – and you guys shot him!” Olango’s sister can be heard telling officers in the video. “I called police to help him, not to kill him.” Witnesses said they heard five shots as police confronted Olango.
Meanwhile, the government of Uganda has instructed its embassy in Washington DC to establish circumstances surrounding the shooting according to the Monitor.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Margaret Kafeero in a telephone interview on Tuesday said: “We have instructed our ambassador in Washington DC to establish the facts because right now not all the facts are known other than the fact the he was shot and killed.”
The US Mission in Kampala has also responded to the incident, expressing regret.
In a Facebook post, the embassy wrote: “We are aware of reports that on September 29, Alfred Olango was shot and killed during an incident with law enforcement officers in El Cajon, California. We extend our deepest condolences to Mr Olango’s family and friends.”
