Source: Spencer Platt / Getty
Tuesday morning a 37-year-old black man named Alton Sterling, was shot to death as he laid on the ground pinned by two police officers. Sterling was known in his community as the “CD Man” who sold DVDs and CDs at the Triple S Food Mart in his neighborhood.
CNN.com reported that Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S Food Mart, has known Sterling for six years. “Just five minutes before,” Muflahi said, “he walked into the store getting something to drink, joking around, [and we were] calling each other names.” Muflashi let Sterling sell CDs in front of the store. He says Sterling never got into fights. Muflahi was there the night Sterling was killed; he says he saw the officers slam Sterling on a car. “They told him not to move,” Muflahi said. “He was asking them what he did wrong.” He says the officers then used a stun gun on him at least once before shooting. Both got on top of him, and one ordered him not to move. The one closest to Sterling’s legs yelled “gun,” and the shots followed.
After the shooting as Sterling laid there, Muflahi says an officer reached into Sterling’s pocket and pulled out a gun.When it was over, Muflahi says he heard the officers talking on the scene, saying they had been called there due to a complaint that Sterling had pulled a gun on someone.
But Muflahi said he never saw a prior confrontation between Sterling and anyone that night. And he wasn’t aware of any incident that someone would have called about.
Edmond Jordan, the family’s attorney told CNN that he’s been told the officers’ body cameras fell off in the struggle.
