Stephon Clark Police Shooting: Autopsy At Odds With Past Findings

SACRAMENTO, CA — The official autopsy of Stephon Clark's body is at odds with an independent examiner's findings that Clark was shot eight times in the side and back. Clark was actually shot seven times and was most likely hit as he approached police, according to the report released by the Sacramento County coroner’s office. Three bullets entered through the right side of his body and three entered on the right side of his back, it said. One bullet also entered Clark's left leg.

The autopsy also found cocaine, codeine and marijuana in Clark's system, though those substances were not related to his cause of death, according to Dr. Gregory Reiber, an independent forensic pathologist hired to review the findings.

The autopsy was performed by Dr. Kenny Su and reviewed by three other doctors, as well as Reiber, NPR reported.

Two police officers responding to a report that someone was breaking car windows on March 18 opened fire on Clark, 22, as he hid in the backyard of his grandmother's home. Police said the officers — who each shot 10 times — thought he pointed a gun at them in a threatening manner. The officer's, fearing for their lives, fired 20 rounds.

But investigators only recovered a cellphone at the scene.

The independent autopsy identified four entry wounds in Clark's lower back, as well as one in the side of his neck, one in the back of his neck, one on his side under the armpit and one in the outside of his leg. The family's legal team said their findings clearly showed Clark wasn't moving toward officers in a threatening manner, as police had said.

Reiber says Dr. Bennet Omalu, a pathologist hired by Clark's family to perform an independent autopsy, incorrectly thought an exit wound was an entry wound, leading him to believe Clark was first shot from the side or back.

Reiber said Clark was probably walking toward police officers when he was first shot, and might have been crouched.

Reiber said the sequence in which the bullets entered Clark's body doesn't "support the assertion that Clark was shot primarily from behind," The New York Times reported.

“This is a significant error, as it leads to incorrect conclusions regarding the relative positions of the victim and shooters during the event,” he said.

The slaying sparked national attention and intense protests nationwide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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