Castile was stopped because Officer Yanez noticed that he matched the physical description of the robber of a convenience store, caught with great clarity by the store’s CCTV camera, and that included a description by Yanez of his nose.
When he looked down into the car, he saw a gun on Castile’s thigh. That would catch any officer’s attention. Neither of the occupants complied with Officer Yanez’s instructions.
With a robbery suspect sitting there with a gun in full sight, *not* complying with instructions, should Yanez have waited for Castile to pull his gun? Or maybe the equally uncompliant woman with him? Quick-draw situation?
It's a tough case and we probably (undoubtedly) don't know all the fact yet. But whether Castile had a permit or not, would be the least of Officer Yaneez' worries.
No, I understand he told dispatch prior to the stop he was going to pull over person who fit the description of an "Armed robbery suspect" from days early. What happened to a felony traffic stop for the officers own protection?
Btw there actually audio of this recording picked up allegedly by a scanner listener who recorded it.
Would you pull over a possible “Armed robbery suspect” and simply stroll up to the window asking him for ID/registration?
I certainly would not. No way.
He had a gun in the open? Where did you see/hear that? First I’ve heard and if so, that’s a good piece of info.