Image from officer’s body camera shows Dylan Noble, 19, on the ground after he is shot by Fresno, California police officers.
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“I anticipate that some of this video will answer numerous questions out there in this community”, Dyer said. “However, I believe this video is also going to raise questions in the minds of people, just as those questions exist in my mind as well”.
The footage shows a police officer driving up to the scene of a traffic stop, stepping out of his squad auto with his weapon drawn and pointing toward the truck where Noble is sitting behind the wheel.
Teenager Dylan Noble was killed by police officers who shot him repeatedly – including while he was lying on his back and barely moving. An officer again orders Noble, now on his back on the ground, to hold his hands up, but he appears instead to move his hand under his shirt.
That’s when police fired upon Noble, who immediately hit the ground and revealed he didn’t have anything in his concealed hand. At some point, Noble lowers one hand while pacing in front of the officers.
Bystander videos of police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and of a black man who killed five officers in Dallas, Texas have each sparked outrage and debates about how race and policing intersect.
Was deadly force, in particular the final two shots – taken by two different officers – necessary?
After Noble was told he would be shot if he didn’t comply, the young man told the officers that he “fucking hates [his] life”. The footage shows Noble ignoring several police commands to stand still and keep his hands up. During a press conference, Dyer said that the officer pulled his gun believing that Noble could be armed, or could be related to the call about a man with a rifle that led him to find Noble in the first place.
Noble’s mother and attorney said in a claim filed with the city that the officers used excessive force, and they called the death inexcusable. But like many agencies, the LAPD does not plan to routinely release those videos to the public. He was only carrying a small plastic container, The Los Angeles Times reports.
“We flood communities with so many guns that it’s easier for a teenager to get their hands on a glock than a computer or a book”, he said.
Stuart Chandler, the attorney for Noble’s mother, Veronica Nelson, put out a statement saying that he urged the police chief to release the video today.
The driver, Dylan Noble, eventually stopped.
A second officer shot him a fourth time when he was reaching into his waistband again, which is out of sight in the video, according to Mr Dyer.
Darren Noble, who had an opportunity to view the footage earlier this month, had a harsh assessment of the officers’ encounter with his son.
An internal affairs investigation will look into whether police procedures were followed and whether there were other options.
“You don’t point (a weapon) at an individual for a traffic stop”, he said.
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His decision is expected to heighten the debate about whether video from body-worn cameras on officers should be routinely made public.
