Philando Castile
Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man armed with a gun, was shot on July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minn. Castile was shot by a St. Anthony police officer after a traffic stop. Castile told the officer he had a weapon in the car. A woman in the car said he was reaching for his wallet when the officer shot him.
Male
Black
30 to 44
No/unknown mental illness
Gun
Body cam recording
Not fleeing
No officers identified
Officers involved: Have not been publicly identified or have not been contacted by The Post.
On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black American, was pulled over while driving in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and killed by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer. Castile had been driving a car at 9:00 pm with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter when he was pulled over by Yanez and another officer in a suburb of Saint Paul, MN. After being asked for his license and registration, Castile had told Officer Yanez that he had a firearm, to which Yanez replied "Don't reach for it then", and Castile said "I'm, I, I was reaching for..." Yanez said "Don't pull it out", Castile replied "I'm not pulling it out", and Reynolds said "He's not..." Yanez repeated "Don't pull it out" and then shot at Castile seven times.
The shooting achieved a high profile from a live-streamed video on Facebook made by Reynolds in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. In the video, she is talking with Yanez while a mortally injured Castile lies slumped over, moaning slightly and his left arm and side bloody. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office said that Castile had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and reported that he died at 9:37 p.m. in the Hennepin County Medical Center, about 20 minutes after being shot.
On November 16, 2016, John Choi, the Ramsey County Attorney, announced that Yanez was being charged with three felonies: one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. Choi said, "I would submit that no reasonable officer knowing, seeing, and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances." Yanez was acquitted of all charges on June 16, 2017. The same day, the City of Saint Anthony fired Yanez.