Family disputes California police account in shooting of black man

By Sharon Bernstein

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - The family of an unarmed black man shot to death by police officers in the backyard of his grandparents' house in Sacramento, California, disputes the police account that he had earlier been breaking windows, the family's attorney said on Friday.

Two officers, responding to a report of someone shattering car windows, fatally shot Stephon Clark, 22, on Sunday night. The encounter was captured on video.

Police on Wednesday released body camera and helicopter video of the shooting in the California state capital, and that sparked street protests the next day.

"This family completely rejects anything that the Sacramento Police Department tried to claim to justify this execution of their loved one," said Benjamin Crump, the family's attorney.

Crump previously represented the family of Michael Brown, a black teenager whose 2014 shooting death by police in Ferguson, Missouri, near St. Louis, sparked nationwide protests.

Since Brown's death, a series of killings of unarmed black men by police across the United Stated has fueled a nationwide debate about racial bias and the use of lethal force.

Before the latest shooting, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies in a helicopter saw Clark break a sliding glass door at a neighboring house, then hop a fence into a backyard, Sacramento police said in a statement.

When officers confronted Clark in the backyard, he was holding an object officers feared was a firearm and they shot him 20 times, police said. It was later discovered he only had a cell phone.

Investigators found three damaged cars in the neighborhood, police said.

The deputies in the helicopter did not capture video of Clark breaking the glass door, said Sacramento police spokeswoman Linda Matthew.

"I believe they turned on the camera after that happened," Matthew said by phone.

Sacramento police have not released the names of the two officers who opened fire, who have been placed on leave. Police have cited concerns about the officers' safety, saying threats were made against them.

One of the officers is white and one is black, Matthew said.

Protests against the shooting resumed in Sacramento on Friday.

Activists expect hundreds of people on Friday night to attend a candlelight vigil for Clark several blocks from where he died.

On Thursday, protesters blocked Interstate 5 and later converged outside a Sacramento arena, preventing many fans from entering for a National Basketball Association game between the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is investigating the shooting.

(Additional reporting and writing by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis)