Sacramento police bow to City council, mayor – release video in fatal shooting of mentally impaired, Joseph Mann
Officers of Scaramento PD gunned down 50-year-old Joseph Mann on July 11
Sacramento police bow to City council, mayor pressure to release comprehensive details about the shooting
Two officers fired 18 shots, Mann was hit by 14 bullets, police Chief Sam Somers said, Tuesday
Cops responding to a call, claim they killed Mann because he was acting erratic, was high on meth, pulled a gun and a knife
No guns were found on victim and the 911 caller who alerted cops to Mann’s antics had speculated he might be mentally ill
Mann was a college graduate with a successful career, who became homeless after succumbing to mental illness 5 years ago
First video released on the incident was a private recording, Cops now released 4 Videos of the incident
Sacramento Police Chief Sam Somers address the press after Police dash cam recording of shooting Joseph Mann is released
The Sacramento Police Chief Sam Somers said, that officers fired 18 shots, 14 of which struck 50-year-old Joseph Mann on July 11.
Private recordingshot by a bystander of the Joseph Mann shooting, shows Joseph Mann sinteracting with police before the shooting, doing karate moves in the middle of a street, and zigzagging as he walked
a previously released video shot by a bystander shows Mann interacting with police before the shooting, doing karate moves in the middle of a street, and zigzagging as he walked.According to Chief Somers, the officers involved in the shooting remain on desk duty rather than patrol.
Robert Mann Sr. addresses the community at Allen Chapel AME Church in Sacramento, Calif., accompanied by family’s attorney John Burris. A photo of younger brother Joseph Mann is displayed on the right. Joseph Mann, who was shot and killed by Sacramento police, July 11.
As other police shootings have drawn scrutiny and protests nationwide, Sacramento police have faced criticism over the shooting, and Mann’s family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that police should not have used lethal force because Mann showed overt signs he was in the midst of a mental crisis.
“It’s unprecedented for us to release video prior to the adjudication process,” Somers told reporters. “There are times that we’re in today, sometimes it’s important that we come out with this video or this audio.”
Members of the city council and the mayor have demanded to see the footage themselves, and were scheduled to view it Tuesday evening.
Police transcript of the 911 call
Surveillance footage showing two officers opening fire on a cornered Joseph Mann. Officers fired 18 shots, Mann was hit 14 times
Police also released 911 emergency recordings, Tuesday, in which one caller said Mann waved a knife in the air. Another said he pulled a gun out of his pocket. Callers also speculated that Mann appeared to be mentally ill.
The chief says no gun was located, although police found a knife.
Somers said a specialized team that is able to assist officers with mentally ill subjects was not called out. But he said a toxicology screening that recently came back shows Mann also had methamphetamine in his system.
Joseph Mann was a successful college graduate before succumbing to mental illness 5 years ago
“It’s not only individuals that are mentally impaired, but also chemically impaired,” police are dealing with, he said.
Family members described Mann as a college graduate who was smart, loved politics and economics, and succeeded in several careers before deteriorating into mental illness about five years ago. They said he had been living on the streets before his death.
Attorney John Burris representing the Mann family said they were relieved that police released the footage Tuesday, though they believe it to have been done sooner, to mitigate “against some of the grief that the family has suffered.”
He said even if Mann had methamphetamine in his system, he was acting bizarrely and police should not have used lethal force.
“There was nothing about his conduct that suggested he should have been shot multiple times,” Burris said. “Any reasonable police officer should have noticed that he was mentally impaired.”
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