Facebook Live Video captures aftermath of a US police shooting

Only a day after our tech site listed Facebook Live Video as one of 5 cool features you may not have heard of on Facebook comes the news that a woman apparently live streamed the direct aftermath of a Minnesota police officer shooting her boyfriend, Philando Castile, using the streaming service.

The live video, apparently taken by Lavish Reynolds, shows Castile next to her in the front seat of a car covered in blood. The torso of a police officer with his gun trained on Castile can be seen out of the window.

A screenshot of the video shows the police officer outside the window with his gun drawn.

Various expletives can be heard in the video as the police officer shouts, claiming he told Castile “not to reach for it“. Reynolds retorts “you told him to get his ID sir“. Castile can be heard moaning throughout the start of the video.

Eventually other officers arrive and Reynolds leaves the car. The film carries on as Reynolds is put into the back of a police car, before ending. Local media claims Castile was pronounced dead soon after arriving at hospital.

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Videos that are live streamed on Facebook are immediately available to everyone. According to reports, the video was seen over 50,000 times before being removed by Facebook. However copies of the 10 minute video have been distributed elsewhere on the Internet.

It is likely that Facebook Live Video will capture all sorts of incidents during its tenure, given that anyone with a Facebook account, Internet connection and phone camera can stream from where they are at any point in time, but as far as we’re aware, this is the first case of its kind. It is unclear what future consequences the video will have as the incident is investigated.

Currently you can watch the video over at Heavy.com, but viewer discretion is advised.

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