Stephon Clark Shooting: Independent Autopsy Results To Be Released

After the news of Stephon Clark’s death by police shooting spread, several protests were held in Sacramento with thousands of citizens marching for justice along with members of the 22-year-old victim’s family who requested their own medical examiner to do an independent autopsy Wednesday.

Reports claimed this was because Clark’s family did not trust the results of the formal county review that was completed last week.

Now, the results of the independent autopsy, conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu, will be announced Friday during a press event at the Southside Christian Center, Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, California at 10:45 a.m. pacific time (1:45 p.m. EST).

The press conference will be held by national civil rights and personal injury lawyer Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law, PLLC along with his legal team.

In addition to announcing the results of the autopsy, Crump will also announce co-counsel Attorney Brian Panish, his legal partner on the civil case and Attorney Dale Galipo "who specializes in aggressively pursuing cases of police misconduct in the state of California," the former said in a statement.

Clark was shot 20 times March 18 in the backyard of his South Sacramento home which he shared with his grandparents and some of his siblings. The police department officials said the officers were responding to a call of a person breaking car windows nearby.

Authorities reportedly chased the suspect as he ran towards the back of the house where he turned and advanced towards the police officers "while holding an object which was extended in front of him."

"The officers believed the suspect was pointing a firearm at them. Fearing for their safety, the officers fired their duty weapons striking the suspect multiple times. The involved officers held their position for approximately five minutes until additional officers arrived. Officers approached the suspect, handcuffed him and began life-saving efforts," the police department had said.

However, after a thorough search, no firearm was discovered at the scene, instead authorities found a cell phone lying next to Clark’s body.

Ever since the shooting, numerous protests in Sacramento, California, have risen the tensions in the city for the police department and Mayor Darell Steinberg.

On March 22, protesters rallied outside the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento effectively blocking Interstate 5, which caused traffic to be diverted. In order to control the rising tensions, state and local authorities Tuesday promised an independent oversight into Clark’s killing.

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra and police chief Hahn called for the state Justice Department to play two roles – to provide independent oversight and to review Sacramento’s police training and policies on the use of force.

"I have complete confidence in my detectives, but due to the nature of this investigation, the extremely high emotion, anger and hurt in our city, I felt it was in the best interest of our entire community, including the members of our Police Department. Our city is at a critical point right now, and I believe this will help build faith and confidence,” Hahn said.