“Kids Loved Him": Here's What We Know About Philando Castile

The 32-year-old was shot and killed Wednesday by a police officer in Minnesota, and the aftermath was broadcast live on Facebook.

Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a police officer Wednesday evening in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

In a Facebook post, President Obama said he was "deeply troubled" by the shootings of Castile and Alton Sterling — who died in a fatal police shooting in Louisiana on Tuesday — adding that their deaths were not "isolated incidents."

Facebook: potus

This is what we know about Castile.

Castile was just days away from his 33rd birthday.

He was employed as a nutrition services supervisor at St. Paul Public Schools, serving meals to more than 400 kids twice a day at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School.

Today we mourn the death of one our Teamster brothers, Philando Castile. Join us in prayer for the Castile family.

Castile started working as a nutrition services assistant and was promoted to nutrition services supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in August 2014.

“Today we mourn the death of one of our Teamster brothers, Philando Castile. Join us in prayer for the Castile family,” the Teamsters Local 320 union, of which Castile was a member, said on Twitter.

“I have known Philando ‘Phil’ Castile since he joined the Teamsters back in 2002 and he was an amazing person who did his job at St. Paul Public Schools because he loved the children he served," union president Sami Gabriel said. "He will deeply be missed by his colleagues and his community."

Students at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School described Castile as a generous and kind school employee.

Kids from #PhilandoCastile's school say he would comfort them when they were feeling down.

He “used to give you fist bumps, used to give you extra food when you were at the end of the lunch line,” Jas Gillman told KMSP-TV. “He gave you extra food when the other ones weren’t looking.”

Another student, Mitchell Gillman, told the station that Castile would comfort students when he noticed they were feeling down.

“He was really nice to everyone and he was one of the kindest people in the whole school,” Mitchell said.

Joshua Wilkes, a parent at the school, said he had to tell his adopted Ethiopian son about another fatal police shooting of a black man.

“This one happens to be someone my son knows,” Wilkes told KMSP.

Castile graduated from Central High School in St. Paul in 2001.

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