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28-year-old cop fired fatal shots into Alton Sterling

Posted at 3:31 PM, Jul 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-07 19:55:06-04

Blane Michael Salamoni, 28, was the Baton Rouge Police Officer responsible for taking the life of Alton Sterling outside of a convenience store Tuesday, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported through sources Thursday.

Baton Rouge Police has only confirmed that Salamoni was one of the two officers on scene during the shooting.

The paper reported that Salamoni has been with the Baton Rouge Police force for four years, and is a third-generation cop. 

In a video that has gone viral of Sterling's death, Salamoni was seen without his hat yelling at Sterling to stop moving. The video did not clearly show Salamoni shooting Sterling. The other officer, Howie Lake II, was also on hand, but reportedly did not fire shots.

Sterling was armed, but it appeared on video Sterling was not reaching for his gun at the time of shooting.

The Advocate reported that Salamoni received numerous commendations, including a life-saver award in 2014 for saving an unconscious man from an overheated house. He had one official complaint on record for an April 2012 automobile crash. 

He also had two other incidents on record, but both were not sustained.