WARNING: This story contains content which may be distressing for some readers.
A 32-year-old African American man has been shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in Minneapolis, America.
St. Anthony Police were reportedly conducting a traffic stop when an officer fired at least one shot at Philando Castile while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car.
His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, recorded the aftermath of the incident on live video which was streamed on Facebook.
She said Castile was shot four times as he sat at the steering wheel reaching into his back pocket for his ID.
In the video, she pleads with him to “stay with me,” as the camera pans across the car to Castile sitting in the driver’s seat with a T-shirt soaked in blood.
“He let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm,” Reynolds says in the video, as the police officer continues to point his gun at the couple.
Story continued after video
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has since spoken about the event, saying police wouldn’t have shot and killed Mr Castile if he’d been white, NBC News reports.
“Would this have happened if the driver and the passengers had been white?” Gov. Dayton asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“I can’t say how shocked I am and deeply, deeply offended that this would happen to somebody in Minnesota,” he continued.
“No one should be shot in Minnesota for a taillight being out of function. No one should be killed in Minnesota while seated in their car.”
The White House has said President Barack Obama is “deeply disturbed” by reports of the police shootings.
And in a statement, St. Anthony Police Department confirmed that a St. Anthony Police Officer asked the couple to make a traffic stop.
“During the stop, shots were fired. One adult male was taken to the hospital. We have been informed that this individual is deceased,” they said.
Castile, an African-American, was a school nutrition services supervisor who was popular among his colleagues and students, according to his employer.
Reynolds’ daughter, 4, was in the back seat when the incident happened.
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