POLICE SHOOTING: Another Unarmed Black Man Dead

Stop us if you've heard this one before -- an unarmed black man was fatally shot by a white police officer.

It happened in Phoenix last night (Wednesday). Cops were responding to a robbery call, as well as a noise complaint -- for loud music coming from an SUV. When they arrived, the music was turned off, but they decided to question the car's occupants. The driver, Rumain Brisbon, got out of the car, and the sequence of events that followed left him dead.

The officer says that Brisbon went to remove something from the back of the SUV and failed to comply when asked to show his hands. The cop says that Brisbon then took off running, and a short chase ensued. During their struggle, a woman opened an apartment door and the two fell into the room. The officer says he had his hand on Brisbon's, inside Brisbon's pocket, and thought he felt a gun. When he was unable to subdue the suspect, he fired two shots, killing him. It turned out that the object in Brisbon's pocket was a bottle of prescription painkillers.

However, witnesses dispute this account, saying that Brisbon was cooperative until the cop started wrestling with him.

The Phoenix police department says it is trying to be as transparent as possible in its investigation, which is why it released the officer's account so quickly after the incident.

Source: USA Today