“He won't leave my house… He won't leave me alone… I need the police immediately. » This recording of a distress call, obtained by the Guardian, reveals the cry for help made by Niani Finlayson shortly before her death. This 27-year-old black woman contacted the Los Angeles Police Department to report domestic violence. Police quickly arrived at the young woman's home in Lancaster before she was shot dead by an officer.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) released images of this tragedy captured by onboard cameras from the team that responded on December 4th. When the police arrived near the apartment, the screams of the mother of a 9-year-old child could already be heard. According to the pictures, the little girl was at her mother's side when she opened the door. The child then appears to complain that his mother's ex-partner hurt her. “I’m going to stab him,” Niani Finlayson says, knife in hand, before entering the house.
The police officers come in one by one, the child points to the man in the room. When the 27-year-old woman touched the subject's arm, Officer Ty Shelton opened fire. He had only entered the apartment seconds before but shot Niani Finlayson four times. “Why did you shoot?” shouts the man at the back of the room. The video stops at this point.
Not the first black man killed by the agent
“Officers administered first aid until Los Angeles County Paramedics arrived. “Finlayson was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead,” LA police said. She also explains that she arrested the ex-spouse for child abuse and assault on an agent. He was later released pending further investigation.
The perpetrator of the shooting already killed a black man, Michael Thomas, in 2020 without being prosecuted. This time, Ty Shelton was suspended pending the investigation. According to the Guardian, the victim's family filed a complaint against the agent. This Wednesday, activists organized a “Standing 4 Black Girls” demonstration outside an LASD station to demand justice.
“Why is a black man treated like a suspect when he calls the police for help out of desperation? This is cold-blooded murder,” said Waunette Cullors, director of Cancel the Contract, an anti-racist organization that campaigns against police violence.