Cop Charged After Video Showed Him Kill a Man in Walmart for Holding Sporting Equipment

As TFTP reported earlier this year, a tragic case out of San Leandro, California illustrates the propensity of cops to escalate to deadly force in cases where unsound people are during a crisis and wish help - not bullets.

A man was killed inside a Walmart for holding a bat.

After the community expressed their outrage, police were forced to release the body camera footage days later and it didn't bode well for his or her case.

Now, four months after officer Jason Fletcher shot and killed Steven Taylor, 33, but 40 seconds after entering the shop, Fletcher has been charged.

On Wednesday, Fletcher was arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter within the fatal shooting of Taylor in April.

"A thorough review of the statements of witnesses and involved cops, physical evidence and therefore the review of multiple videos of the shooting show that at the time of the shooting it had been not reasonable to conclude Mr. Taylor posed an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury to Officer Fletcher or to anyone else within the store," said Alameda County DA Nancy E. O'Malley during a prepared statement.

"I believe Officer Fletcher's actions, including his failure to aim other de-escalation options rendered his use of deadly force unreasonable and a violation of legal code Section 192(a), Voluntary Manslaughter."

San Leandro captain Jeff Tudor issued a press release Wednesday saying, "As the captain of San Leandro, I do know the loss of Steven Taylor has deeply affected this community. Today, the DA has charged Officer Jason Fletcher with voluntary manslaughter. it's important that we allow the judicial process to require its course. I will be able to refer all inquiries to the District Attorney's Office."

While the fees are certainly welcome, legal experts say they are doing not go far enough and need Fletcher to face murder charges.

"You check out the facts, in my view, those facts don't amount to voluntary manslaughter. It's a minimum of second-degree murder," says LaDoris Cordell, a retired court Judge.

"It is difficult on behalf of me to believe that one couldn't have the intent to kill another person when the officer took his gun, put it ahead of the victim, and shot him within the chest."

As TFTP reported, police were called bent the Walmart in April over an alleged robbery.

Police said once they received the shop, there was no robbery, but they found Taylor inside brandishing a bat "Menacingly" as they tried to detain him.

The officers are seen getting very on the brink of Taylor and he never once takes a swing.

The video shows the officers then taser the unsound man before shooting him within the chest for wielding the bat.

While the first video was grainy and from distant, the body camera video shows that there was no got to fire on the unsound man and prosecutors agree.

The video shows officers confront Taylor who appears agitated but never once attempts to swing the bat at the officers or charge them like they originally claimed.

When the primary officer deployed his taser, Taylor started leaning forward - not like he was charging the officers - but as if he was close to going over.

"Get back!" "Get back!" they yell several times, as an individual within the background is often heard shouting "Put it down! Put it down!".

The gunshot was entirely unnecessary, which is why numerous onlookers inside the Walmart gasped once they watched it and spoke out, saying "Don't shoot him anymore!".

Despite Taylor dropping the bat, the opposite officer deployed his taser causing Taylor to collapse.

Another video uploaded to social media shows the interaction between the 2 San Leandro cops and Taylor.

The video, which is a smaller amount than a moment longer, shows officers engaging Taylor, who is refusing their commands to "Drop the bat." Seconds later, Taylor is face down on the bottom, dying.

This man was killed - not for attacking people - but refusing to drop sporting equipment when cops demanded he does so.

Although Taylor was accused of threatening people, at no time did he actually attack anyone.

Attorney S. Lee Merritt, a prominent police brutality attorney within the country has taken the family's case.

In a statement, Merritt called the officers' actions "Criminal."

"At some point during this exchange the officers' behavior became criminal, namely when the suspect was disarmed," Merritt wrote.

"These officers aren't only poorly trained to affect individuals affected by a psychological state crisis, their intentional and repeated application of force, despite the absence of a threat, captured in these recordings is sufficient evidence for authorities to issue a bench warrant for the shooting officers."

Merritt also acknowledged how the officers opening fire inside a crowded Walmart put everyone within the store in peril, not just Taylor, which not immediately arresting Fletcher put the community in peril.

"Failure to spot and arrest the shooter unnecessarily exposes the general public to a deadly threat," he said at the time.

NBC Bay Area interviewed a lover of Taylor's who described the person as a loving father of a touch boy and who had not appeared like himself lately.

"I am pitying his family and for his friends," Flood said.

"We will miss him, and that we love him."