Alfred Olango, 30

El Cajon, California
September 27, 2016

Agencies: El Cajon Police Department California | San Diego County Sheriff's Office California | San Diego County District Attorney's Office California

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

San Diego-area police killed a man who witnesses said was unarmed with his hands up Tuesday afternoon.

Gunfire rang out around 2 p.m. local time in a parking lot at the Broadway Village Shopping Center in El Cajon, Calif., KNSD-TV reported. Witnesses and family members said that the as-yet-unidentified man shot by police is a mentally-challenged black man.

The man wounded by officers didn't follow their orders when they arrived to the scene, El Cajon police spokesman Rob Ransweiler told reporters at a news conference. The officers showed up at Broadway and N. Mollison Ave. after three separate radio calls reporting the man's "erratic" behavior, Ransweiler said.

He declined requests to say whether the wounded man was armed or not, citing the beginning of investigations by police and prosecutors. Ransweiler said none of the officers involved were wearing body cameras.

According to activists on the ground in El Cajon, the police department informed media that they were aware they were responding to a 5150 call (involving a person who is a danger due to mental illness) when Olango was killed.

According to a witness on the scene, police confirmed that the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) was not brought in to assist on the call. Earlier eyewitness accounts claimed that Olango was having a seizure or some other sort of medical or mental health emergency. The exact nature of Olango’s mental state at the time he was shot has not been confirmed.

Legal Action

August 2015 Another $1.6million for extra PERT teams making 33 teams up from 23

September 2016 Eyewitness account, another here.

September 2016 ACLU statement

September 2016 Police statement

September 2016 Police Scanner Audio

September 2016 One frame from a video and a couple of tweets is not accoutability or transparency

September 2016 Family engages high profile attorney after police release one frame of a video

September 2016 NAACP calls for the release of full video footage

September 2016 The officer involved in the shooting has been identified as Richard Gonsalves, a veteran of the force of 21 years. He was formerly a sergeant, but was demoted after multiple sexual harassment complaints were filed. The first was in 2015 and another was filed by the same officer in August.

October 2016 More than a dozen protesters who were arrested at a vigil for Alfred Olango in El Cajon on Oct. 1 filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming police wrongfully ordered them to disperse and violated their civil rights.

October 2016 The attorney representing the sister of Alfred Olango, the man who was shot and killed last month by an El Cajon police officer, has filed a claim against the city of El Cajon on Thursday.

October 2016 Olango Foundation Launched for police reform

November 2016 A federal judge on Friday denied a request by protesters and the NAACP to ban law enforcement from arresting people who continue to gather at the spot where Alfred Olango was fatally shot by an El Cajon police officer.

In January 2017 San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced that the police officer won’t face criminal charges for fatally shooting unarmed Olango, saying the officer had reason to believe he was in danger when the man suddenly raised both hands and pointed what appeared to be a weapon but actually was an e-cigarette device.

Community and Family Efforts

 

September 2016 Kim Moore Live on periscope locked out of police press conference