BATON ROUGE -- The family of Alton Sterling is scheduled to meet with representatives from state Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office Tuesday to learn if state prosecutors will charge the two Baton Rouge Police officers involved in the shooting, according to multiple sources.
New Orleans City Councilman Jason Williams, an attorney who has served as an advisor to the Sterling family, confirmed the meeting will take place in Baton Rouge at 9 a.m.
A spokeswoman for Landry said Monday afternoon she could not comment on the matter.
The Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed to The Advocate two weeks ago that law enforcement agencies around the capital city area had met to prepare for the announcement.
The meeting between authorities and the Sterling family comes nearly a year after federal authorities closed their investigation into the shooting, which was captured on cellphone, surveillance and body cam video, and announced they would not prosecute officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, the officers involved.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on May 3, 2017, that its 10-month investigation failed to find any evidence to prove that Salamoni and Lake “willfully” violated Sterling’s civil rights.
Sterling was fatally shot outside of the Triple S Food Mart during a struggle with the officers, which touched off weeks of unrest in the city and clashes between protesters and police.
It was about 12:30 a.m. on July 5, 2016, when someone called Baton Rouge police to report that he was threatened by a man sitting outside the store in a red shirt who was selling CD’s. The caller said the man pulled out a gun.
Salamoni and Lake arrived and saw Sterling, who wore a red shirt, standing by a table with a stack of CD’s.
Moments later, the officers wrestled Sterling to the ground, at which time he was shot. The encounter lasted fewer than 90 seconds.
It began as the officers told Sterling to put his hands on the hood of a car. He refused, authorities have said, and began to struggle with the officers.
Salamoni then pulled out his gun and pointed it at Sterling’s head, at which point he put his hands on the hood of the car.
Lake used a stun gun on Sterling after he tried to move his hands from the hood, at which point Sterling fell to his knees. He tried to get up, authorities have said, and the officers ordered him back to the ground.
Salamoni tackled Sterling to the ground. Moments later, authorities have said, Salamoni yelled, “Going for his pocket. He’s got a gun! Gun!”
Salamoni then tried to grab Sterling’s right hand while Lake pulled his gun and yelled at Sterling to not move.
At one point when Sterling’s right hand was not visible to cameras, Salamoni yelled that Sterling was “going for the gun,” according to the Justice Department. Salamoni them fired three shots into Sterling’s chest.
Sterling began to roll on the ground, at which point Lake yelled at him to “get on the ground” and Salamoni fired three more shots into his back.
Lake then reached into Sterling’s right pocket and pulled out a .38-caliber revolver.
Investigators said Sterling’s gun was loaded with six bullets when he was shot.
Salamoni and Lake told investigators that Sterling was “large and very strong” and refused to listen to them.
“Both officers reported that when they were on the ground, they saw Sterling’s right hand in his pocket, with his hand on a gun,” the Justice Department reported in announcing it would not prosecute them. “Officer Salamoni reported that he saw the gun coming out and attempted to grab it, but Sterling jerked away and attempted to grab the gun again. Officer Salamoni then saw “silver” and knew that he had seen a gun, so he began firing.”
The officers told investigators that after the first three shots, they believed Sterling was attempting to reach into his right pocket again, which led Salamoni to fire the final three shots into Sterling’s back.
The Justice Department said that the first three shots Salamoni fired were “not unreasonable.”
“With respect to the second series of shots … experts emphasized that officers are trained to eliminate a threat,” the Justice Department wrote, “and that Sterling appeared to pose a threat because he was still moving and his right hand was not visible to Officer Salamoni.”
Sterling’s family and activists urged Landry to pick up the case and file state charges against the officers since federal authorities declined to prosecute them.