FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (TheBlaze/AP) — Police in Minnesota say a man has been taken to a hospital in unknown condition after being shot by an officer while inside a car with a woman and a child.
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Citing family members, several local news outlets, including WCCO-TV, identified the victim as Philando Castile and reported that he died at Hennepin County Medical Center. Police did not immediately confirm the death.
St. Anthony Police interim police chief Jon Mangseth told reporters at a news conference that the incident began when an officer from his agency initiated a traffic stop around 9 p.m. Wednesday in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb.
Mangseth says he didn’t have “much information” about what led to the shooting. He says the woman and child weren’t hurt.
A video posted Wednesday night on Facebook Live appeared to show an incident like the one police described. The video showed a woman sitting in a car with a man whose shirt appeared to be soaked in blood, saying an officer shot her boyfriend.
The woman in the video, identified as Diamond Reynolds, claimed her boyfriend was reaching for his wallet to produce identification when he informed officers that he had a concealed carry permit and was in possession a firearm. She claimed the officer involved then opened fire, shooting the man several times.
“I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand out,” the officer can be heard saying in the video.
The Associated Press couldn’t immediately verify the authenticity of the video. Mangseth says police are aware of the video but wouldn’t comment further.
A small gathering comprised of some angry community members formed in the hours after the officer-involved shooting.