UNARMED AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN SHOT DEAD BY COPS IN HIS OWN BACKYARD, MISTOOK HIS CELL PHONE FOR A GUN

A policeman fatally shot a 22-year-old African American man holding a cell phone that they assumed was a weapon.

According to NY Daily News, what makes this story even more sad is that it happened in the backyard of the home he shared with grandparents and siblings.

Officers were responding to a call they received about a man breaking car windows in the area. They were told that the suspect was about 6-foot-1, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark pants hiding in a backyard.

A County Sheriff’s Department helicopter saw Clark in a backyard and told deputies his location. When officers approached Clark they thought he had a weapon.

“The officers believed the suspect was pointing a firearm at them. Fearing for their safety, the officers fired their duty weapons striking the suspect multiple times,” the police department said in a release.

The only item next to his body was his cell phone.

Clark’s grandmother was home during the tragic shooting.

“The only thing that I heard was pow, pow, pow, pow, and I got to the ground.”

Both of the officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras and the police department plans on releasing the footage. They’ve also decided to place them on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.