Stephon Clark Was Shot Eight Times From Behind and Side, Independent Autopsy Shows

Stephon Clark, an unarmed African-American man who was killed by Sacramento police, was “shot eight times from behind or the side,” according to an autopsy commissioned by his family. The New York Times reports the autopsy also concluded that Clark’s death took up to 10 minutes. Police reportedly shot at Clark more than 20 times when they responded to a “vandalism report” last week. Clark was shot “four times in the lower part of his back, twice in his neck, and once under an armpit,” according to the newspaper. He was also shot once in the leg—but no bullets entered Clark from the front of his body. His family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, said the findings “contradict the police narrative,” and affirm “that Stephon was not a threat to police and was slain in another senseless police killing under increasingly questionable circumstances.” The Sacramento Police Department released a statement, saying that the official coroner’s report has not yet been provided to them. The police officers, who said they believed that Clark was armed during the shooting, are being investigated by the police department to see if they “violated any protocols.” Hundreds of protesters across Sacramento have decried the shooting.