Police officer who shot Alton Sterling during attempted arrest fired for 'a violation of use of force’

The other officer involved in the incident will be suspended for three days

The Baton Rouge Police Department has fired one of the officers involved in the 2016 shooting of Alton Sterling, just days after the Louisiana attorney general decided not to pursue charges against either officer.

The termination of officer Blane Salamoni,was announced Friday by police chief Murphy Paul, and was accompanied by the release of two new graphic videos taken by the officers’ body cams on the night of the shooting.

Mr Paul said that the other officer, Howie Lake II, would be suspended for three days, but not fired.

“We have two officers involved in one incident. The same incident with two different responses. Two different perspectives. And they perceived the threat differently,” Mr Paul said during a televised press conference.

“One officer attempted to use deescalation and disengagement techniques consistent with policy and procedure, and training. And, one officer did not follow the tactics, training, professionalism and organisational standards. Simple,” Mr Paul continued.

He then said that a three-day suspension for Mr Lake was the right punishment in the case, and that Mr Salamoni had violated use of force standards for the department.

“As a result of the administrative investigation into the conduct and behaviour of officer as it relates to Officer Blane Salamoni, the Baton Rouge Police Department training policy and procedures, a violation of use of force has been sustained and a violation of command of temper has been sustained. Officer Blaine Salamoni has been terminated from the Baton Rouge Police Department,” he said.

Mr Sterling was killed in July 2016 after the two officers responded to calls that someone was threatening people with a gun. The officers arrived to find Mr Sterling, 37, selling CDs outside of a convenience store.

The new police camera footage comes from both officers, and shows them yelling at him to put his hands on the hood of a vehicle, before then telling him to get on the ground.

Mr Sterling, who was seen in a convenience store surveillance video smoking cigarettes and listening to rap music before police arrived, appears somewhat confused before he is shot in the newly released videos.

Mr Sterling’s killing gripped the attention of the United States when footage captured by bystanders went viral online. The death came at a time of heightened concerns over race relations in the US as a result of similar videos showed police killing black men across the country had been released online.

The Sterling family is pursuing a civil lawsuit related to the shooting.