Tension High after police shoot black man

The police shooting of a man in Louisiana has added to concerns about excessive force used by police against mostly black victims.

Alton Sterling's death was filmed on the mobile phone of onlooker and activist Arthur Reed, who was just metres away as two white 

police officers tried to arrest the 37-year-old.

Mr Sterling, a father of five who had been arrested a number of times before, had been selling CDs outside a Baton Rouge convenience store.

Police say they had been sent to the store at 12.35am on Tuesday after an anonymous caller told them that Mr Sterling had threatened someone with a gun.

In the phone footage, the two officers pinned Mr Sterling to the ground, someone yelled "He's got a gun! Gun!" before gunfire erupted.

According to the area's coroner, Dr William Clark, Mr Sterling died from multiple bullet wounds to his chest and back.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr said that Mr Sterling had been armed but the circumstances which led to him being shot were still unclear.