Protests have erupted in San Bernardino after an allegedly armed black man was wrestled to the ground and shot four times at close range by a cop outside a liquor store.
Mark Matthew Bender Jr., 35, was shot dead by a San Bernardino police officer Thursday night who was responding to reports of someone jumping on cars.
Bystander cellphone footage shows Bender and the cop struggling on the ground at the 200 block of West Base Line Street outside King Tut Liquor before the officer stands, pulls out his gun and opens fire on the black man.
Police released the bodycam footage from the incident revealing the cop pointed his gun at Bender as soon as he spotted him strolling past the store - as the force defended the officer saying Bender was armed with an unregistered gun.
The male cop has not been identified but footage appears to show he is white.
Demonstrators gathered at a police press conference Friday morning and around the scene of the shooting as night fell in outrage at what marks the latest in a string of cop killings of black men and women across America in recent months.
Mark Matthew Bender Jr., 35, (pictured) was shot dead by a San Bernardino police officer Thursday night who was responding to reports of someone jumping on cars
The shooting occurred around 11:16 p.m. Thursday night when the cop was dispatched to the liquor store to reports of an armed man jumping on cars in the parking lot, San Bernardino police Sgt. John Echevarria said in a press conference Friday morning.
Audio from the 911 call reveals a female caller saying a 'man with a gun' was jumping on cars and 'just going crazy.'
'There's a man real drunk up there - he's jumping on top of cars, he has a gun,' the caller says.
Police bodycam footage from the incident shows the officer then arriving on the scene and the moments that led up to the deadly shooting.
The officer walks into the parking lot and immediately draws his firearm on Bender who is walking slowly along the sidewalk outside the store.
'Hey, yo man, come here,' the officer says, as he points the gun at Bender.
'Why you got a gun on me?' Bender asks as he keeps walking.
'Let me see your hands,' the police officer shouts.
Bender puts his arms in the air before dropping them and pulling up his pants.
'I'm going to the store,' Bender says as he continues to walk on.
Police released the bodycam footage from the incident revealing the cop pointed his gun at Bender as soon as he spotted him strolling past the store
'Why you got a gun on me?' Bender asks as he keeps walking and is told to raise his hands
Bender puts his arms in the air before dropping them and pulling up his pants and keeps walking. The bodycam goes unclear as a struggle breaks out
The cop walks up to Bender and tries to restrain him with the footage becoming unclear at this point.
Bender is heard repeatedly telling the officer 'don't touch me' as a struggle breaks out.
'Stop moving!' the cop shouts. 'Get on the ground.'
'What are you doing? Get off of me?' Bender is heard saying.
The bodycam footage is unclear but a close-up of the back of Bender's white t-shirt is seen before four shots ring out.
Cellphone footage taken by a witness captured the shooting from another angle.
The footage shows the cop wrestling Bender to the ground and on top of the black man as he struggles.
Bender manages to get back to his feet and still has his back to the officer who - also back on his feet - is up close against him.
The cop quickly pulls his gun and fires four rounds at Bender at close range.
Cellphone footage taken by a witness captured the shooting from another angle
The footage shows the cop wrestling Bender to the ground and on top of the black man as he struggles
Bender manages to get back to his feet and still has his back to the officer who - also back on his feet - is up close against him
The cop quickly pulls his gun and fires four rounds at Bender at close range
The footage shows Bender has a dark object that appears to be a handgun in his right hand. Police said Bender was armed with a gun but confirmed he didn't fire any shots
The footage shows Bender has a dark object that appears to be a handgun in his right hand.
Bender was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police defended the actions of the officer in a press conference Thursday claiming Bender was armed.
'The suspect was large in size and was able to physically overpower the officer,' Echevarria said.
'The suspect retrieved a weapon from his pocket and was turning to face the officer. At that time, an officer-involved shooting occurred.'
Echevarria said the cop noticed the gun during the struggle but confirmed Bender fired no shots.
'The officer saw the weapon, and during the struggle, was able to disengage during that fight for control of that suspect, and was able to back away and protect himself by discharging his weapon,' he said.
Police released an image of an unregistered, loaded 9mm handgun said to be recovered from the scene.
Deadly shooting took place at the 200 block of West Base Line Street outside King Tut Liquor (above)
The scene of the shooting Friday morning after the allegedly armed black man was wrestled to the ground and shot four times at close range by a cop outside a liquor store
Police released this image of a gun they said Bender was armed with. Police said Bender had a long rap sheet but it is not clear if the cop recognized Bender
Echevarria said Bender had a long rap sheet with arrests for allegations of attempted murder, false imprisonment, domestic violence, theft and possession of narcotics.
It is not clear if the cop recognized Bender or knew his criminal history when he shot him dead.
An investigation into the killing has been opened with the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office involved in the investigation.
Protesters gathered at Echevarria's press conference Friday morning as well as Friday night demanding answers over Bender's death.
'You can't justify a murder because he had a gun,' neighbor John Anderson told CBS Local.
'He had a gun, if he did, to protect themselves, probably from them. They're the ones doing the damage, they're the ones doing the hurt.'
Bender's killing tops of a growing list of cop killings of black people across America in recent months, sparking nationwide protests demanding an end to police brutality and racism.
Protests erupted across America and further afield following the Memorial Day 'murder' of George Floyd.
Floyd died back in May after white cop Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes as he begged for air and said 'I can't breathe'.
Chauvin and the three other cops involved were fired and charged over the killing.
This week a judge dismissed the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin but maintained second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Demonstrators gathered at a police press conference Friday morning (pictured) demanding answers over Bender's killing
A protest was also seen around the scene of the shooting as night fell in outrage at what marks the latest in a string of cop killings of black men and women across America in recent months
This came after EMT Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot six times in March when three plainclothes officers performed a botched raid at her Louisville apartment.
Last month, a grand jury decided not to bring any charges against the three cops involved in her death, with only one officer charged in connection to the incident - not for Taylor's death but for wanton endangerment for shooting into a neighboring apartment.
In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.
Then, in August, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.
In early September, footage was released by the family of Daniel Prude, 41, showing cops in Rochester, New York, putting a spit hood over his face and pushing his face into the ground for two minutes until he passed out and died on March 23.
Earlier this month, unarmed black city worker Jonathan Price was shot dead outside a gas station by a white cop in Texas, as he was reportedly trying to break up a domestic incident.
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