The police shooting of a 33-year-old man in a California Walmart on Saturday is bringing blowback for the department as facts regarding the incident are brought to light.

According to NBC Bay Area, San Leandro police shot Steven Taylor on Saturday afternoon after he entered a local Walmart brandishing a baseball bat. A patron of the store managed to capture footage of two officers confronting Taylor and the violence that ensued.

The video shows the officers deploying a firearm and a Taser to incapacitate Taylor. After what sounds like the first shot is fired, customers at the store can be heard screaming in shock. A few seconds later, someone is heard on the video yelling, “Don’t shoot him no more!”

In a statement released later that day, San Leandro police said Taylor didn’t heed the officers’ commands to drop the bat and instead approached them with it in hand. A shot was fired into Taylor’s upper torso after an attempt to tase him, according to the department. The 33-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

“San Leandro Police Officers responded to Walmart, located at 15555 Hesperian Boulevard, for a report of a man brandishing a baseball bat inside the store. Upon their arrival, officers saw a man standing near the shopping cart storage bay holding a baseball bat. Officers approached the man and gave him commands to put down the bat. The man did not comply with the officers’ commands and instead walked towards the officers while still holding the bat," the police statement read.

"An officer discharged his taser, which was not effective, and the man continued walking towards the officers. Then, the officer used his service weapon, striking the man once in his upper torso," the statement continued. "Seconds later, another officer discharged his taser at the man. Officers called for paramedics and provided first aid until they arrived. Despite life-saving measures, the man died from his injuries at the scene. Our thoughts are with the man’s family during this time."

San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor said he has been made aware of community upset surrounding the incident and that the “community is hurting right now.”

In a Sunday Facebook post, Tudor said the “pop” sound heard on the video after Taylor was already on the ground was a noise that came from the Taser and declined to say whether or not the shooting was in accordance with department policy.

This is a community message from Chief Jeff Tudor regarding yesterday's officer-involved shooting.

Posted by San Leandro Police Department on Sunday, April 19, 2020

Lee Merritt, the attorney for Taylor’s family, said Taylor suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar depression and was having a mental health episode on Saturday.

“He was shot after he had become completely helpless and no longer represented a threat,” Merritt told The Guardian.

According to Merritt, the officers involved should be brought down on charges of homicide for killing Taylor after the threat was nulled. He said police could have de-escalated things by clearing the Walmart and then incapacitating him without the use of deadly force, The Guardian reported.

The attorney said he couldn’t confirm yet whether police shot Taylor with a Taser or bullet after he was already down, but that an autopsy was being conducted and more answers would be revealed soon.

San-Leandro-Police

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