An African-American man shot in an encounter with El Cajon Police was treated in a parking lot while a woman identified as his sister wailed nearby, demanding to know why police shot the man she had called them to help.
Dozens of officers swarmed the Broadway Village Shopping Center Tuesday at approximately 1 p.m. at Broadway and North Mollison, El Cajon Police said. The location is just north of Interstate 8 and west of State Route 67.
Almost three hours later, police officers told NBC 7 San Diego the man was acting erratically and failed to comply, while witnesses questioned the police motives in the shooting. Crowds gathering by the scene of the shooting began chanting, demanding answers from police.
Officers quickly secured the parking lot near the shooting. One witness at a local restaurant told NBC 7 police came and confiscated their cell phones following the incident; another witness recalled hearing an officer fire three or four rounds.
The suspect’s sister said she was encouraging her brother to do what police were telling him to do; she indicated to NBC 7 that her brother was not showing his hands.
While the suspect stood in that position, another police officer came and blocked the suspect in three directions, Rodriguez said. He said he witnessed the suspect run to the right, and as he did so, he saw the officer fire five shots, knocking the suspect to the ground.
The man was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital. His condition is unknown.
The entire shooting was captured on mobile phone video from the drive-through at the Los Panchos restaurant. NBC 7’s Dave Summers said an El Cajon lieutenant told him the restaurant worker voluntarily turned over the phone. The video at some point in this investigation will be released, the lieutenant told Summers.
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