Autopsy favors police story in shooting of Stephon Clark
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- An official autopsy from police officers' fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in March calls into question the conclusions drawn by an independent doctor hired by the man's family.
The autopsy released Tuesday by Sacramento police says 22-year-old Stephon Clark was shot seven times, not eight.
A pathologist retained by the Sacramento County Coroner says the family's pathologist mistook an exit wound for an entry wound, leaving the impression that police first shot Clark from the side or back.
The county's reviewer says Clark was most likely shot as he approached police, consistent with the officers' story. They were responding to a report of someone breaking car windows.
The autopsy says Clark was legally drunk and had traces of marijuana, cocaine and codeine in his system when was shot in his grandparents' backyard.