Newly released body camera video shows that Los Angeles police was told by another officer that a man was not carrying a gun at the time he was shot.
The video was released Thursday, more than a month after Jermaine Petit, who is Black, was shot and injured. The Los Angeles Police Department identified the officers who fired as Sgt. Brett Hayhoe and officer Daryl Glover.
The shooting stemmed from 911 calls on July 18 reporting a man who was possibly armed with a handgun. In one call, a male caller tells the dispatcher that a Black transient man brandished a black handgun after the caller told the man to leave.
"I got a dark-skinned guy with dreadlocks, he has a flannel shirt on. ... And I told him to leave and he pulled out a gun. It looked like a black semi-automatic gun," the caller says. "I told him to leave and he asked me, 'I'll leave when I want. You can leave.' And then all of a sudden I saw a pistol in his hand."
In a second 911 call, a woman tells the dispatcher that she saw officers looking for the man and provides what street the man is on.
The 911 calls and body camera footage were included in a YouTube video statement released by the Los Angeles Police Department.
After spotting Petit walking down the sidewalk, two officers exit their vehicles with their guns drawn and order Petit to stop, the body camera videos show.
"Hey, come here," one officer says. "Hey, take your hands out of your pocket, bro."
In the video, Petit appears to point an object at the officers. As the officers continue to follow Petit, one says: "It’s not a gun, bro."
"What is ... You said that’s not a gun?" the second officer responds, according to the footage.
Seconds later, an officer yells for Petit to "drop it" and immediately afterward shots are fired by police. The footage shows Petit collapsing in the street.
Kelly Muñiz, a police spokesperson, said that officers told Petit multiple times to stop walking.
"However, Petit refused to comply with the officers’ commands and instead continued to walk away," Muñiz said. As the officers followed Petit on foot, he turned toward them multiple times while pointing a black metallic object believed to be a firearm in their direction. Shortly thereafter a patrol sergeant, also believing Petit was armed with a handgun arrive at scene."
Petit, still refusing to stop walking, then "turned toward the sergeant and pointed the same black metallic object at him resulting in an officer-involved shooting," according to Muñiz.
The object Petit had was not a handgun and was a 6-inch black metallic latch actuator. The actuator, which is used on cars, was recovered at the scene, Muñiz said.
Petit, 39, was handcuffed at the scene and taken to the hospital in stable condition. He was later arrested on two outstanding felony warrants for resisting an officer and assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer.
On July 20, police asked a district attorney to charge Petit with two counts of brandishing a replica firearm. The case is still pending.
Hayhoe and Glover could not be reached Friday at phone numbers listed for them. A spokesperson for the police union was not immediately available Friday.
