POLICE KILL MENTALLY ILL BLACK MAN

According to sky new Report, a US police shot a mentally ill black man. Jason Harrison, 38, was shot three times during a brief confrontation with police as he stepped out of his front door in Dallas, Texas, last June, Sky reported.

Footage from one of the officer's body cameras was handed over to the family as part of a lawsuit claiming the police department was responsible for Mr Harrison’s wrongful death.

The video, now released by the family, reveals how the incident escalated rapidly after Mr Harrison's mother, Shirley, told officers John Rogers and Andrew Hutchins that her son was "bipolar schizo". She had dialled 911 to ask for him to be admitted to hospital.

Mr Harrison was holding a screwdriver and, when officers told him to drop it, the situation became heated with the officers and his mother heard yelling before shots rang out.

Police say Mr Harrison had lunged at the two officers causing them to fear for their own safety. They say they had fired in self-defence.

But Mr Harrison’s family say the officers added to his agitation by yelling and then used excessive force. Their lawsuit says he was not a violent person and posed no threat.

Mr Harrison's brother Sean questioned why the officers did not use a Taser or pepper spray.

He told the Dallas Morning News: "This is a perfect video for the Dallas Police Department to use in training as an example of what not to do. You don’t yell at them - that only agitates them."

The shooting happened two months before the killing of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

That incident sparked a nationwide debate about the use of deadly force by police.

Incidents in New York, Los Angeles, Wisconsin, and Washington - along with the continuing fallout from what happened in Ferguson - have created tension between law-enforcement and the black community.

Mr Harrison's family say what happened to him is evidence the police need greater training in how to deal with people suffering from mental health problems.

The district attorney in Dallas has been formally assessing the family's lawsuit against the city's police department. It is likely to go before a grand jury.

A number of cities have begun using body cameras for police officers to provide images in cases where actions are challenged.

The shooting was the first in Dallas to be captured on a body camera.

It was actually recorded on a camera that Officer Hutchins had bought himself as his city-issued one was not working.