A statement released by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has named Jeronimo Yanez as the cop who killed Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black school cafeteria worker.
The statement was released yesterday evening, Thursday, July 7, stating that Jeronimo Yanez and Officer Joseph Kauser were involved in the Wednesday shooting during a routine traffic stop.
- Jeronimo Yanez is 28
- He has been with the St. Anthony Police Department for four years
- He was on the scene with a colleague – Officer Joseph Kauser
- Yanez opened fire, striking Castile multiple times
- He is currently on paid leave
- No detail has been given on either cop’s disciplinary record
- Yanez got married to Lyndsay Engstrom in November 2014
- He had a baby on August 4 last year, in Forest Lake, Minnesota
- No official release on his race or origin; Reynolds, Castile’s girlfriend, alleged he was ‘Chinese’
- The incident has been classified as homicide and the first officer-related shooting in 30 years.
- Convicted for minor traffic violations in 2015 and ‘snow emergency parking restrictions’ in 2014
- Minnesota governor, Mark Dayton blamed the death of on racial bias
– Seyifunmi Adebote for encomium.ng