Video: Gilbert Flores Was Shot By Cops With His Hands Raised, No Weapon

By R. Siva Kumar - 03 Sep '15 08:15AM

There is an investigation on the death of Gilbert Flores, who was shot by Bexar County Sheriff's Deputies.

One mobile video that was sent to the media Monday showed him with his hands up, in spite of which he was shot. The 41-year-old is viewed running outside and putting his hands into the air, a video that went viral on Tuesday.

"Experienced civil rights investigators from the FBI will thoroughly review the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting. Our focus is to determine whether a civil rights violation took place as a result of a deputy willfully engaging in the use of excessive or unjustified force," the FBI said in a statement, MSN reported.

"In regards to the deputy involved shooting, we're asking for calm and patience. We are diligently working to complete the investigation, so we can move to the next step. We want to get this right for the Flores family, our deputies and their families, and our community. Please be patient," the Bexar County Sheriff's Department said.

"He put his hands in the air and then he had his hands up for a few seconds and the cops shot him twice," the man who filmed the video, Michael Thomas, told fox2now.

Right now law enforcement officers are being acutely examined as to how and when they resort to lethal force. Due to several killings over a year, the tensions between police and the communities they serve, especially among minorities, is under fire.

Thomas decided to record the scene because of the investigations. "I thought with everything going on in the world, with police shootings and everything, I thought I would record what was happening," he explained.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Flores had been armed with a knife and was resisting arrest when the deputies showed up, without any body camera.

Police shooting and killing of civilians is becoming worrisome. The Christian Taylor shooting too, hit the headlines.