Alfred Olango, 38, came to the United States as a refugee with his family from Kampala, Uganda when he was 12-years-old, fleeing persecution from the country’s new regime.
On Tuesday, El Cajon-area police shot and killed Olango in the parking lot of a strip mall, when they mistook the vape-pen he was holding for a gun.
Protesters gathered at the site of Olango’s shooting on Wednesday night. Riot police had positioned themselves in the area earlier in the day, prepared for the possibility that a peaceful protest could spiral into an angry riot. The only scuffle broke out when a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” red cap Donald Trump supporters’ trademark arrived at the scene of the protest. Video shows a group of protesters surrounding the man, throwing bottles and pushing him to the ground, chanting “fuck Trump.”
He livestreamed the incident.
Olango’s death comes at a time when racial tensions nationwide are raw, particularly after police killed black men in Cleveland, Tulsa and Charlotte in recent weeks, sparking protests and riots. A bystander live-streamed the aftermath of Olango’s shooting on Facebook, which showed his sister wailing and distraught.
Olango’s sister had dialed 911 requesting emergency assistance because her brother was “not acting like himself” and endangering himself by walking into traffic.
Some news reports, quoting Olango’s friends, have suggested that he had had a seizure prior to the incident.
When police encountered Olango, they said he refused numerous orders to remove his hands from his pockets, where it looked like he was concealing an object. When he finally took his hands out, El Cajon police said he held the vape-pen in a “shooting stance.” One officer tased him; the other shot him multiple times.
“The object that Mr. Olango drew from his pant pocket and pointed at the officer is a vape smoking device,” police said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “The vape has an all silver cylinder … The box of the vape that was held in his grip, is 4” x 2 ¼"s x 1.“
Olango had had a few run-ins with the law in the past and had spent time in jail; he was found in possession of drugs, driving under the influence and selling crack. In 1998, he was convicted for burglarizing a friend’s home, stealing a bong and audio equipment.
Steven Oloya, who was in a refugee camp with Olango in the 1990’s, told NBC News San Diego that he was "caring” and “easygoing” who “often helped others.” Olango, his parents and his eight siblings, who were Acholi, an ethnic group from northern Uganda came to the US in 1991. His father worked for the former Acholi-dominated administration, and feared the revenge killings which were being conducted by now-President Yoweri Museveni.
Olango, a father of two, had been working as a cook in San Diego and aspired to open his own restaurant one day.
Police said on Tuesday that they are reviewing surveillance video and cellphone video of the incident.
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