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Search warrant: Officers felt threatened by sight of gun

7 years 8 months 2 weeks ago Monday, July 11 2016 Jul 11, 2016 July 11, 2016 3:51 PM July 11, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Hours after a lawsuit was filed against police by the store owner where Alton Sterling was shot and killed, a search warrant was filed in relation to the shooting and evidence collected at the scene by Baton Rouge Police.

Police wrote Sterling refused to obey officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II and that officers saw him reach for his pocket where earlier they noticed the butt of a gun. As Sterling allegedly reached for the gun, one of the officers fired fatal shots into Sterling's body. Last week, reports identified Salamoni as the officer who fired his police-issued handgun, killing Sterling.

Sterling was known to sell CDs outside the Triple S convenience store in North Baton Rouge. Police were called to the store Tuesday morning for reports Sterling was causing a disturbance and threatening people with his gun.

The search warrant allowed officers to take security video equipment from the store. The warrant was signed Tuesday morning about five hours after the shooting. It was just filed Monday with the court - which is typical.

Though, store owner Abdullah Muhlafi alleges in court documents related to his suit, officers illegally locked him in a patrol car for more than four hours in addition to confiscating his cell phone and taking surveillance video from his shop.

The Department of Justice is handling the investigation.

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Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz

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