Nicholas Robertson, a 28-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a pair of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies as he crawled away from them Saturday (Dec. 12) morning. The officers claim that Robertson was armed, and fired off shots from a handgun before arriving at the scene.
KTLA reports:
The shooting occurred around 11:10 a.m. at the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The man died at the scene.
He was later identified by family members as 28-year-old Nicholas Robertson. They said he was a married father of three.
Deputies first responded to several calls reporting a person — described as a black man wearing a checkered shirt — was seen with a gun near Magnolia and Alpine avenues, Lt. Eddie Hernandez with the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
Additional callers told officials the man was moving eastbound on Magnolia, toward Long Beach Boulevard, a block away from the initial report.
At one point, Robertson was said to be actively shooting, according to Hernandez. It was not known where he was allegedly shooting, or if one or more witnesses reported this detail.
Robertson’s death has sparked outcry on Twitter under the #NicholasRobertson hashtag, with many calling his shooting a flat-out murder. Although it’s difficult to make out in the video, it appears that the officers continued firing after Robertson was severely wounded and trying to retreat from the gun blasts.
Activist and writer, Shaun King posted an unedited video of the shooting that’s far too graphic to share on the front page. We invite you to view the following page to see that clip and we do caution that the images might be disturbing to some.
Watch KTLA’s video report of the Nicholas Robertson shooting below.
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Photo: screen cap
