Five Oklahoma City police officers were charged with first-degree manslaughter Wednesday for shooting and killing an unarmed teenager in November.
15-year-old Stavian Rodriguez allegedly tried to rob a gas station but the store clerk locked him inside and escaped.
Police body cameras and surveillance video show Rodriguez climbing out of a window after the store was surrounded by police. Multiple officers gave Rodriguez different commands.
Rodriguez lifted his shirt to show his waistline, dropped his gun on the ground and then lowered his hands to his waist. That’s when police shot him.
STAVIAN RODRIGUEZ SHOOTING: I just picked up the surveillance camera video of the Stavian Rodriguez shooting from the DA's office. You'll see after Stavian drops the gun, he reaches toward his back pocket right before he is shot by officers. We paused the video before he was shot pic.twitter.com/ligAMGfVPT
— Perris Jones (@KOCOPerris) March 10, 2021
Charging documents filed by the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office claim the police did not need to fire lethal rounds. An autopsy found the teen was shot 13 times.
Officers Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton were the officers charged with first-degree manslaughter. A sixth officer — Sarah Carli — fired less lethal rounds and isn’t facing charges.
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