Police in San Bernardino, California killed a 23-year-old African American who ran away. A video shows an officer opening fire seconds after getting out of the owl car. Police said that as the colleague who was with him he was part of a special unit investigating a venue where illegal gambling is practiced.
The incident took place last Saturday but the footage shot by the agents’ bodycam was released only now. In the video, the young man is seen talking to someone, then heading towards the unidentified car and running away when he sees the two agents getting out of the car. A short-lived escape: one of the agents fired and Robert Adams died shortly after.
The murdered boy’s family admits that Adams worked at the illegal gambling venue, but accuses the officers of failing to identify themselves. The police instead claim that his two men were in uniform and therefore easily recognizable and tried to give orders to the boy before he started to run away. And he adds that Adams was armed.
The video ended up on the net, going viral and causing protests. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, a lawyer for George Floyd’s family who was brutally killed by the Minneapolis police in May 2020, spoke of a “horrific execution”.
Adams’ family asked authorities to indict the officer who fired, whose identity was not disclosed.