Newly released video shows five heavily armed California cops storm a convenience store with a police dog before shooting and killing a mentally ill man who was legally blind.
The store surveillance video, which contains no audio, contradicts the police version of events that claimed James Hall “advanced” towards them with a knife.
Instead, the video shows Hall cowering in the corner of the convenience store after cops had sicced their dog on him.
The video then shows one of the Fontana cops opening fire on him, then about ten cops swarming the body.
The incident took place on November 22, 2015 and Hall’s family filed a lawsuit against the Fontana Police Department last month. The video was released Wednesday by attorney Mark Geragos.
According to the lawsuit, [**which you can read here,**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/James-Hall-v-City-of-Fontana.pdf) Fontana police were very familiar with Hall, knowing him to be a peaceful man. They also knew him to be mentally ill.
The 47-year-old man was also known in the community as a peaceful man and even won a community award in 2010 for assisting in the rescue of a four-year-old autistic child.
But he also suffered from [**schizoaffective disorder,**](http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizoaffective-disorder/home/ovc-20258872) which is described as a “combination of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania.”
Fontana police claimed they were responding to call of an armed robbery, encountering Hall who had a knife in one hand and a rock in the other hand.
They said they were only trying to keep the store clerk and themselves safe from the armed man.
However, the lawsuit states that Hall never even entered the store until after they arrived, and only because he was in fear for his life.
The lawsuit states that Hall’s family was denied access to his body for weeks after it was placed in the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office.
Read the Fontana police report about the shooting below, which is followed by the video of the incident.
https://youtu.be/yZRQ_A91iBs
