Louisiana police officer arrested over fatal shooting of unarmed Black man
Shreveport police officer Alexander Tyler charged with the negligent homicide of Alonzo Bagley
A Louisiana police officer has been arrested and charged over the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man during a domestic disturbance call.
Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler was charged with the negligent homicide of Alonzo Bagley, who investigators say had his hands up in the air a split second after being shot.
Officer Tyler was taken into custody on Thursday by state police after investigators reviewed body cam footage and evidence from the 3 February shooting.
The 23-year-old police officer, who is white, is now being held at the Cado Correctional Center.
He and another officer were called to an apartment complex in the city just after 11pm on 3 February after Bagley’s wife called 911 and said he was “loaded on something“ and had threatened her and her daughter.
Officials say that when police made contact with Bagley he jumped from a rear balcony and fled on foot. During the pursuit Officer Tyler fired one shot, which hit Bagley in the chest.
The shot can be heard on body cam video and Bagley is seen falling to the ground and saying, “Oh God, You shot me”, according to NBC News,
The officers performed CPR on the 43-year-old and he was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Officer Tyler, who was hired by Shreveport Police Department in May 2021, was placed on administrative leave after the incident.
Bagley’s family say they were shown bodycam video of the incident on Thursday morning.
“A short flight takes place but flight is not a death sentence,” Ronald Haley, an attorney for the family, said on Thursday.
Officer Tyler’s attorney, Dhu Thompson, said he hoped that the body cam footage was looked at “thoroughly.”
“Officers are always faced on a day-to-day basis with dangerous situations like that and at times where they have to make split-second decisions where they’re in a potential life-threatening situation,” Mr Thompson said.
“The mere fact that an argument is being made by the investigator in court that he was unarmed does not necessarily mean that he is not a threat to the officer.”