Justice Dept. to monitor investigation into deadly Minnesota police shooting

The Justice Department will monitor the investigation into the controversial shooting death of a black man by a police officer in the St. Paul, Minn. suburb of Falcon Heights, according to Gov. Mark Dayton who said Thursday he was "heartbroken for Minnesota."

Officials say the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will take the lead on the investigation into the shooting death of Philando Castile on Wednesday. Video of the aftermath appeared on Facebook Live.

In the video widely shared online, Castile's girlfriend is sitting in the vehicle next to him. Castile's shirt appears to be soaked in blood and his girlfriend is heard telling the camera "police just shot my boyfriend for no apparent reason." She said officers had pulled them over for a broken tail light.

Dayton said that based on the evidence, the police response was "way in excess of what the situation called for." He added, "Would this have happened if the passengers were white? I don't think it would've."

The Justice Department will assist Minnesota officials as needed and is ready to investigate further, a spokesperson told Fox News.

The girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, said Thursday that other officers at the scene didn't check on Castile after the shooting, but that they tried to calm the officer involved as they put her in a police car.

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