BUFFALO, N.Y. — Video of a fatal shooting involving Buffalo police on the west side has spawned outrage.

Steven Cohen represents Rafael ‘Pito’ Rivera’s family; he finds the actions of Buffalo police involved in the Wednesday shooting problematic.

After viewing the video Cohen talked about what Rafael ‘Pito’ Rivera, 32 was doing before being gunned down.

"He was running on Plymouth into the parking lot of School 77 when he was clearly shot twice,” said Cohen.  “He was down on the ground, he was getting up to run away from the police and he was shot in the back".

A source told Spectrum News Rivera was not shot directly in the back by police and that video supports that statement.

Wednesday Buffalo Police Deputy Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia said Rivera was armed and the weapon was visible to the officer.

“The suspect refused multiple requests by the officer to put the gun down, the officer discharged his weapon to stop the immediate threat the suspect posed," Gramaglia said.

A source says when Rivera is seen stumbling onto the ground in the video he was not shot. The source also alleges Rivera was trying to get rid of his weapon and toss it down a sewer grate.  

Rivera was unsuccessful, got back up and continued running away with the loaded weapon, according to the source.

"At no point in this video did we see him point a gun at anybody and certainly not an officer,” said Cohen.

Buffalo police released statement by Captain Jeff Rinaldo regarding the shooting Saturday:

"Our preliminary investigation has shown that in the early morning hours of September 12th, Buffalo Police officers responded to a 911 call of a man with a gun. Officers encountered Mr. Rivera who was in possession of a loaded handgun. Mr. Rivera ignored numerous requests to drop the gun and was ultimately shot by Officer Karadzhaev. In addition to video that was obtained, numerous other pieces of evidence have been collected. Our homicide and internal affairs units continue their investigation. We ask anyone with information in this case to call or text our Confidential TIPCALL Line at (716) 847-2255. Out of respect for the independent investigation being conducted by the Erie County District Attorney's office, we have no further comment at this time."