On Tuesday night, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida released body camera footage of the deadly arrest and shooting of Salaythis Melvin, a 22-year-old Black man who was shot and killed on August 7. Now, Melvin’s family is demanding immediate policy changes on the sheriff’s office use of deadly force.
Sheriff John Mina reported that the incident occurred around noon, when deputies approached a group of four individuals outside of a Dick’s Sporting Goods. One of the four people there had an active warrant for his arrest and was a person of interest for a shooting that took place last month.
Melvin did not have a warrant out for his arrest; however, when deputies approached, Melvin attempted to flee at full sprint. In that moment, Deputy James Montiel stepped out of an unmarked vehicle in plain clothes and shot Melvin in the back because he claimed that Melvin had a handgun in his waistband.
“When you look at the video, he was in a full sprint. He posed no threat to anyone,” said Bradley Laurent, the attorney representing Melvin’s family.
Trigger Warning: Violence and death
Shortly after Melvin fell from the impact of the bullet, at least four officers surrounded him and placed him in handcuffs before administering any first aid. On the 4 -minute 56-second mark, some believe they heard one deputy calling Melvin a racial slur while they waited for eight minutes until an ambulance arrived.
None of the officers wore masks and although they performed CPR on Melvin initially, they stopped while he lay on the ground groaning and visibly writhing in pain. He died shortly after.
“At the time of his death he was not a saint, however he was a member of our family,” The family said in a statement.
The shooting did not receive national media coverage, but was covered by local news networks.
Melvin’s family plans to file a lawsuit once more evidence becomes available.
OCSO is aware of allegations related to the body worn camera video that was released yesterday. It is alleged that a deputy on the video made inappropriate comments. At this time, we have initiated an inquiry into this matter. Once complete, we will make the results public. pic.twitter.com/mfyyRSSaPL
— Orange County Sheriff’s Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 19, 2020