Sacramento Cops Shoot and Kills Homeless Man 30 Seconds After Trying to Run Him Over
"Fuck this guy," one of the cops is caught saying in the footage
Police called in over an apparently mentally ill homeless man who allegedly wielded a knife in front of spooked resident tried to run the man over with their vehicle before fatally shooting him. Police released video from three dash cams as well as 911 recordings related to the July incident late last month within an hour of the Sacramento Bee releasing footage taken by a witness of the shooting itself.
In one of the recordings, one of the officers is heard saying "fuck this guy" and suggesting he would try to run the man over. The second cop agrees. A little over thirty seconds later, the cops fire at the man 14 times, killing him. Police were originally called because the man, Joseph Mann, was allegedly staring at residents who were having coffee outside in a way that made them uncomfortable, as the Sacramento Bee reports. Residents say Mann then began to pretend he was typing on an imaginary keyboard and urinated his pants. Residents say they told him he had to leave. Mann responded by pulling out a knife described as a steak knife, and then residents called police. The resident who called told police Mann had a knife and also suggested he may have had a gun, saying he had seen Mann reach for something in his waistband he said "looked like a gun." Dispatchers told police Mann was armed with a knife and a gun, but a gun does not appear on the footage nor did police find one after canvassing the area.
The incident, which happened days after high profile police shootings in Baton Rouge and Minnesota and the ambush on police officers in Dallas, led members of the Sacramento city council to demand to see the footage, but the city attorney advised them to wait until the investigation was over. Police released the footage only after the Sacramento Bee released footage taken by a witness. The two cops were placed on "modified duty" after the incident.
Watch the cellphone video:
And dashcams:
