California police face backlash over killing Steven Taylor in Walmart

The police shooting of 33-year-old Steven Taylor has led to backlash from civil rights activists and calls for protests.

Police in San Leandro in the Bay Area shot Taylor after they say he wielded a baseball bat inside a local Walmart.

Video and witnesses of Steven Taylor police shooting

A video shot by a bystander captured two police officers pointing their weapons at Taylor holding a bat near the doors on the Walmart floor.

The footage appears to show one of the officers positioned a Taser after Taylor had dropped the bat on the floor and was lying on the ground.

One witness is heard shouting, “Don’t shoot him no more!”

Police said one of the officers hit Taylor with a bullet in the upper torso, and the officers tried to use their Tasers multiple times during the confrontation.

Steven Taylor was going through a mental health crisis 

Lee Merritt, an attorney for Taylor’s family, said Taylor was going through a mental health crisis and that he has previously suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar depression.

“He was shot after he had become completely helpless and no longer represented a threat,” Merritt told the Guardian.

Merritt said he wasn’t sure yet whether police shot Taylor with a Taser or bullet after he was already down, and that an autopsy was under way.

Merritt also alleged that the officers provided insufficient care once Taylor was shot.

“Their job, according to standard operating procedures, was to get Mr Taylor help. He had been seriously wounded and was suffering from a mental health crisis. They had to treat him quickly. They did the opposite and exacerbated his injuries,” Merritt said.

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