Stephen Clarke has died after being shot multiple times by police because they thought he was holding a gun, whereas it was his cellphone.
Clarke, 22, was in his grandmother's backyard in Sacramento on the night of Sunday, March 18, when he was killed. US police say they saw an object in Stephan Clark's hand before firing 20 bullets that killed him.
The two officers were responding to a 911 call about a man breaking vehicle windows. They encountered Clarke and believed he was the one breaking the windows. They also saw him with something in his hand and believed he was holding a gun so they each fired 10 rounds at Clark, striking him multiple times. The father-of-two, who is engaged to be married, didn't stand a chance.
"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time in his own backyard? C'mon now, they didn't have to do that," his grandmother, Sequita Thompson, told the Sacramento Bee.
"I told the officers, 'You guys are murderers. Murderers,' " Thompson cried out in a video. "You took him away from his kids."
He had two young sons, Cairo and Aiden, the family said, and a fiancee, Salena Manni, the Associated Press reported.
Both officers who shot Clarke were wearing body cams and the authorities are working to get the footage released. They are both on paid administrative leave.
Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg in a statement on Wednesday night offered his condolences to Clark's family and said he was "heartbroken" for the city.
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