Authorities will review body camera and surveillance footage as they investigate the fatal shooting of a Baton Rouge man by a city police officer, Louisiana State Police said.
Calvin Toney, 24, died Monday night after an arresting officer shot him, according to a state police statement issued Tuesday.
The shooting happened after a social worker from the Department of Children & Family Services went to The Palms apartment complex in the north part of the city to question Toney about child abuse allegations, state police said. The social worker asked for a Baton Rouge police escort because of “the nature of the allegations and previous history involving Toney,” police said.
Not long after the social worker and officer made contact with Toney, he fled and the officer pursued, state police said. The officer and Toney engaged in a lengthy struggle, during which Toney was hit with a stun gun multiple times, police said.
“During the altercation, the officer fired a single shot from his duty weapon striking Toney in the chest,” the statement said. “After being shot, Toney fled and was later taken into custody by the officer. While taking Toney into custody, he remained non-compliant and was placed into handcuffs for safety reasons.”
The handcuffs were removed so paramedics could provide medical care, the statement said. Toney died at the scene, police said. The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office said Toney was shot one time in the chest.
Minor injuries for officer
An angry crowd gathered behind police tape near the shooting scene, according to CNN affiliate WBRZ. Some changed “hands up, don’t shoot,” the station reported.
The identity of the officer were not being released immediately, state police spokesman Bryan Lee told reporters at a news conference. The officer sustained a minor injury and was wearing a body camera, Lee said.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar C. Moore III stressed that the dead man had not been handcuffed at the time he was shot.
“We really are early on in this investigation, state police are here doing the job they always do,” Moore said. “From all the indications that we have, from video, from statements, that is not the case, he was not handcuffed when he shot.”
Mayor: Don’t jump to conclusions
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome urged residents to “withhold judgment” on the shooting, asking that they instead let police complete their investigation.
“As mayor-president of this city and parish, I am closely monitoring the Baton Rouge Police Department officer-involved shooting that took place tonight, Weston Broome said in a statement.
“Per protocol, the Louisiana State Police (LSP) is investigating this case. I am sure that the LSP will demonstrate the highest level of transparency throughout this investigation. I ask that the community withhold judgment on this incident until the LSP concludes its work.”
2016 shooting sparked protests
Protests broke out after the killing in Baton Rouge of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man.
Sterling was killed by police in July 2016. He was shot outside a convenience store after police responded to a call about a man threatening another man with a gun. Cellphone video showed Sterling pinned to the ground by the white officers before he was shot, but police said he was reaching for a gun.
His death helped spur nationwide protests against excessive force by police. A Missouri man ambushed and killed three law officers and wounded three others in the Louisiana city in the weeks following Sterling’s death.
No federal charges against the officers were filed following his death as prosecutors determined there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant civil rights charges against Baton Rouge police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II.