Sterling's sister, Mignon Chambers, told WAFB she hadn't seen the video but, "My brother didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it at all. Not one bit. ... He didnt deserve to be shot like that. Period. At all."
A calm Chambers said Sterling "was a kind-hearted person. Everybody enjoyed being around him. There was nothing ever negative about him that you could say."
WAFB reports State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, who was briefed by the Baton Rouge police chief, said the officers were wearing body cameras but they fell off during the struggle and didn't capture the shooting.
She added that detectives also have video of the shooting from at least one convenience store surveillance camera and from the dash-cam of at least one police patrol car that hasn't been released.
"What I said to the chief is he has to have transparency in this matter because, as you can see this is getting out of hand. People are clearly upset and they want transparency," Marcelle said.
At the scene of the shooting Tuesday evening, people were wanted answers, WAFB reports.
"The worries are that we are not going to get the information we need to cool the situation down and this may definitely be the next Ferguson right here in Baton Rouge. That's the worries," said Silky Slim, a community activist.
"It just didn't make sense for someone to become so angry that's suppose to protect our lives and take this young man's life. It just doesn't make sense," said Vereta Lee, a family friend.
Gov. John Bel Edwards and the U.S. Justice Department announced the investigation by the department's civil rights division Wednesday.
"I have very serious concerns. The video is disturbing, to say the least," Edwards said.
The shooting stirred anger in Baton Rouge, with hundreds protesting Tuesday night and demonstrations continuing Wednesday. Community leaders and Sterling's family demanded a federal investigation.
"Mr. Sterling was not reaching for a weapon. He looks like a man that was actually fighting for his life," said state Rep. Edmond Jordan, an attorney for Sterling's family.
Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling's teenage son, trembled as she read a statement outside City Hall, where a few dozen protesters and community leaders had gathered. Her son, Cameron, 15, broke down in tears and was led away as his mother spoke.
She described Sterling as "a man who simply tried to earn a living to take care of his children.
"The individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis," she said.
The police chief urged protesters to remain peaceful, and Mayor Kip Holden likewise sought to ease tensions, saying, "We have a wound right now, but we'll be healing and making this city and parish whole again."
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