BATON ROUGE (CN) - During a crowded vigil for Alton Sterling, the 37-year-old black man whose death at the hands of white police officers Tuesday morning outraged the nation, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards vowed to focus on the "training, re-training and supervision" of law enforcement officers in the state.
"I think we have a responsibility to come together and take an honest look at how we can do better," Edwards told the crowd at the Living Faith Christina Church in Baton Rouge.
The Times-Picayune, citing church officials, estimated more than 2,500 were in attendance at the vigil.
"This is the only way we are going to come out of this tragedy better than we were before," Edwards said.
Officers Blane Salamoni, 28, and Howie Lake, 28, arrived to the Triple S Food Mart just after midnight on Tuesday morning after a homeless man called 911 to report a man selling CDs there had brandished a gun, according to police.
Police say a scuffle ensued, and Sterling, who regularly sold homemade music cds and dvds outside the store, was shot to death.
Video footage appeared to show Sterling pinned to the parking lot beneath two officers when one of the officers screamed "gun," and the other pulled his service revolver, firing several bullets into Sterling's chest.
A second video, shot by Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the convenience store, surfaced Wednesday and appears to confirm Sterling was not holding a gun in his hand when he got into an altercation with officers.
Muflahi's video shows one of the officers taking what appears to a gun from Sterling's pocket an instant before the fatal shots were fired, and Sterling writhing on the ground after he was shot, a pool of blood accumulating on his chest.
For the past several nights, demonstrators have gathered at the Triple S Food Mart where Sterling died.
Thursday night's memorial was an opportunity for members of the community to come together and a series of prayers were led by area pastors.
At the vigil Governor Edwards praised the peaceful demonstrations that have followed the fatal shooting.
"Your strength is showing through not only to Baton Rouge but to the nation," he told the predominately black crowd Thursday.
Edwards, a Democrat who took office in January, has spent the past several days meeting with faith-based and community leaders, as well as the investigators who will determine whether the police responsible for Sterling's' death should face charges.
"We still have a long way to go. I understand that, but I want you to know how proud I am to be your governor," Edwards said. "We're demonstrating to people all over the world just how good the people of Louisiana can be."
Edwards said the Justice Department will look into the shooting to determine whether civil rights violations were at play in Sterling's death, and also whether there were violations of state or federal law, according to a spokesman.
Richard Carbo said Thursday that the U.S. attorney's office in Baton Rouge is conducting "all aspects of the investigation.
Carbo said if the U.S. attorney's office finds any violation of state laws and believes the officers should be charged with battery, assault or murder, it will refer that back to the local district attorney for prosecution.
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