Castle Shooting Timeline

Philando Castle Shooting Timeline:

July 2nd 2016: Officer Jeronimo Yanez responded to an armed robbery at a convenience store in Minnesota. Video surveillance from the scene revealed that robbers were two armed black males, with dreadlocks, and wearing glasses and baseball caps. The robbers managed to escape from the scene.

July 6th, 2016: While conducting a routine patrol. Officer Yanez discovered Philando Castile (he had dreadlocks and wore glasses), who was accompanied by his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and their minor child who was sitting the backseat of the car. They were heading in the direction of the store where the robbery had occurred. Yanez radioed in to a fellow officer stating his intent to pull Castile over because he bared

In the model it urges the officer to consider specific factors before determining if force is necessary to cause compliance. The factors that the officer must consider are “the severity of the crime, if there is a flight risk or the resistance of arrest”.

Deadly force in Minnesota is permitted only if it serves in “protecting the officer from death or bodily harm, effect the arrest or capture, or prevent the escape, of a person whom the officer knows or has reasonable grounds to believe has committed or attempted to commit a felony. For example, if the suspect used or threatened to use lethal force, or if the police officer believes that the suspect will cause death or great bodily if they are not apprehended”. The policy encourages the police officer, if feasible to issue verbal warnings before using deadly

He did not alert the proper authorities prior to the stop, or inform those authorities that his reason for wanting to stop Castile was because he resembled an armed robber at the convenience store. Although, Officer Yanez’ true intent was to determine if Castile was one of the robbers, he stopped Castile only for a minor traffic infraction (which is not a felony). A broken brake light is not enough justification for use of deadly force. Another violation of this policy was Officer Yanez not issuing a verbal warning before shooting. It seemed that he allowed his emotions to cloud his reasoning. His mind was on solving the case of the armed robbery that it caused him to be more impartial to Castile than he would have been had the robbery not occurred. Officer Yanez, should have communicated clearly and gain a full understanding of what was going on. In my opinion, after learning that Castile had a firearm Officer Yanez should have asked him where the firearm was located and for the paperwork documenting that he had a right to carry. This situation could have been avoided if the officer would have simply taken the time to communicate with Castile. Another issue that I found with Officer Yanez’s actions was his failure to assess his surroundings. To discharge a weapon into a car, where there is limited space, and most importantly a child present could have resulted into