Alton Sterling, the 37-year-old man who was killed by police during an altercation outside of a Baton Rouge convenience store where he was selling CDs, had a history of run-ins with police.

Police say Sterling, who is black, was armed and an eyewitness said he had a gun in his pocket when he was killed by two white Baton Rouge police officers.

Sterling pleaded guilty in 2011 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and illegally carrying weapons. A judge in Baton Rouge sentenced him to five years in prison, giving him credit for time served.


According to a police report, Sterling tried to reach into his pocket when the officer was frisking him, ignored the officer's commands to keep his hands on a police vehicle and tried to run away, a police report said.

"I then grabbed the defendant by the back of his shirt and pushed him to the ground (giving) out loud verbal commands to stop resisting," the officer wrote.

A gun fell from Sterling's waistband while the officer was "wrestling" with him. Other officers arrived and helped arrest him.


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