School cafeteria worker Philando Castile’s ‘execution’ by police has left hundreds of children broken hearted

THE death of Philando Castile at the trigger-happy hands of cops has broken the hearts of hundreds of children who adored him.

THERE’S a moment near the end of the Facebook live video taken by Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds that is almost as distressing as watching her boyfriend Philando Castile die after being pumped with up to five police bullets.

It’s when Ms Reynolds is ordered out of the car at gunpoint by a police officer who is as hysterical as she is eerily calm.

“Get the female passenger out of the car!” the cop screams. “Let me see your hands! Keep ‘em up! Keep ‘em up!”

“Where’s my daughter? You got my daughter?” Ms Reynolds asks, managing to steer her phone camera in front her, where the four-year-old child can be seen in the arms of another officer.

There are two cops in front of Ms Reynolds, pointing their guns straight at her. The viewer can see she is literally staring down the barrel of a gun and it’s terrifying.

Then someone orders Ms Reynolds to, “Get on your knees!” A rustling sound can be heard as Ms Reynolds complies. That’s when the child starts screaming.

Having just watched her mother’s boyfriend get shot, the little girl must have believed her mother was (also) about to get executed.

Having just watched police shoot dead her boyfriend, Ms Reynolds continues to film as officers order her to ‘get on her knees’, causing her terrified daughter (seen in the background in the arms of another officer) to scream.

Later, Ms Reynolds, sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car with her daughter, loses her composure for the first time and starts wailing in distress.

“Don’t worry, Momma, I’m here with you,” her daughter says in a tiny voice, revealing an inner strength every bit as impressive as her mother’s.

That little girl is not the only child whose heart broke when Mr Castile drew his last breath.

As America threatens to descend into a full-scale Ferguson-style state of emergency, with reports of at least three police officers killed by snipers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, up to 400 small children are grieving a beloved friend.

Mr Castile was employed as a nutrition services supervisor at St. Paul Public Schools, serving meals to students aged between five and 12 at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School twice a day.

You see, the cafeteria worker wasn’t just popular; he was absolutely adored by the students and he loved them back. Any kid who got to the lunch queue late could rely on Mr Castile to slip them extra food.

Mitchell Gillman says Philando was ‘one of the kindest people in the whole school’.

‘(Philando) would give you extra food when you were at the end of the lunch line,’ Jas Gillman, told KMSP TV

The parent of an autistic child posted a heart-rending message on Facebook describing how Mr Castile would give him “a hug every single day”.

“We’re just devastated,” Anna Garnaas, who teaches first, second and third graders at the school, toldthe Chicago Tribune.

“He just loved the kids and he always made sure that they had what they needed. He knew their names, he knew what they liked, he knew who had allergies. And they loved him.”

"Justice 4 Philando" on the sidewalk leading to the entrance of the school where #PhilandoCastile worked. pic.twitter.com/dlS8Kxy7j6

— Adrienne Broaddus (@abroaddus) July 7, 2016

Mr. Rafowicz' daughter. Too saddened to speak. Her poster speaks for her. pic.twitter.com/v3AHOsKIuz

— Iris Pérez (@IrisPerezFOX9) July 7, 2016

Aiden,6,"Mom can you tell police this is our guy who serves us lunch...you should tell police they were wrong." pic.twitter.com/2jnkK6kZWr

— Iris Pérez (@IrisPerezFOX9) July 7, 2016

Angie Checco de Souza said she told her children that Mr Castile was killed because “police were worried that they were in danger because he had brown skin”.

Her oldest, aged 10, told her that he thought such a thing “didn’t happen anymore”. Her eight-year-old told her it must be a bad dream. Her six-year-old said: "Mum, it can’t be. That’s our guy.”

“He said, ‘Mum, can you tell the police that they were wrong?’ Ms Checco de Souza told the Tribune.

“This is our guy, who served us lunch at J.J. Hill Montessori School.’”

From a parent at the school where #PhilandoCastile worked. #FalconHeightsShooting pic.twitter.com/j1qP6jZ3hO

— Wendy R (@WendyRMonkey) July 7, 2016

Student Mitchell Gillman, six, told KMSP TV: “When you were feeling down he would comfort you. He was really nice to everyone. He was one of the kindest people in the whole school.”
His brother Jas, seven, said: “He would give you fist bumps and give you extra food when you were at the end of the lunch line. He’d give you extra food when the other ones weren’t looking.”

Their mother Abra Gillman told the station that she had a third son who was so upset he refused to leave the house let alone go back to school.

Parent Joshua Wilkes said: “This is another morning where I’ve had to explain that a police officer shot a black man.

“This time it happens to be one that my son knows, that we saw every day at school.”