Sacramento police release video of armed suspect exchanging gunfire with officers
Sacramento police officials on Monday released video of an April 11 confrontation in which officers shot an attempted murder suspect in the parking lot of a supermarket shopping center near Cosumnes River College.
The man shot by police officers was listed in stable condition Monday and continued to receive medical treatment, according to a news release from the Sacramento Police Department.
The department has said the shooting happened about 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot between the Foods Co. and its gas station on the 7400 block of West Stockton Boulevard in the Valley Hi/North Laguna section of the city. No officers were injured in the gun battle.
Sacramento officers were notified by Marysville police to be wary of an armed suspect in the area about an hour before the shootout. The suspect was driving alone in a Chevrolet Impala for several miles through south Sacramento before he stopped at the Foods Co. gas pumps, according to radio dispatch traffic.
Police released two body camera videos, along with two dashboard camera videos of the shooting. The video footage shows police officers following the suspect’s silver car to the shopping center, where it first stopped at a gas station.
Then, the car pulled out and headed into the parking lot before stopping. The suspect, wearing a bright-colored T-shirt, got out of the car and faced the patrol car stopped behind him. He appears to pull out a gun and aim it toward police moments before gunfire is exchanged.
In a body camera video, bullet holes can be seen in one officer’s windshield after the officer apparently fired his gun out through the windshield. Both officers returned fire, each firing their sidearms more than seven times.
Police officials said in the news release that the suspect pulled out a black handgun from his waistband, pointed the gun at officers and fired multiple shots. They said two officers returned fire and the suspect then ran in a northwest direction through the parking lot.
The dashboard camera video shows some of the officers took cover behind the suspect’s car. One officer is heard on the radio telling dispatchers that the suspect was under a tree with his hands up.
After the melee, one officer tells his sergeant, “I just saw him pull out a gun, and I started shooting,” according to body camera footage.
Police said the suspect fired his gun again at officers as he lay in a prone position.
Officer Karl Chan, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said police are still investigating where the suspect’s shots landed. It is unclear if the officers’ patrol vehicles were hit by gunfire.
Bystanders escape gunfire
As the suspect fled across the parking lot, the first two officers on the scene took a firing position behind a parked SUV, which had its rear window shattered by gunfire. A dashboard camera video shows two people, a man and a woman, were sitting in the front seat of the SUV when the bullets struck the rear window.
One officer told the people in the SUV to get out and directed them to safety by telling them to get on the ground behind a nearby patrol vehicle. From the audio of the video, it appears that the woman was frightened as a volley of gunfire continues and she says, “Oh, God,” as she ducks for cover.
The dashboard camera video shows one officer firing a rifle in the direction of the suspect from his position behind the SUV.
More officers arrived shortly and take positions behind other cars in the parking lot as announcements are made for the suspect to move away from his firearm.
“Roll onto your stomach away from the firearm now,” one officer says on his patrol vehicle’s PA system. “Continue to roll away from the firearm, continue rolling to your right. If you move toward the firearm, we will shoot you.”
Another officer estimates the suspect had been shot two or three times before they tactically approached the injured man with ballistic shields and took him into custody.
In a body camera video, the suspect can be seen on the ground with what appears to be blood on him as he yells at the officers.
“Leave me alone, let me die,” he yelled at police. “Shoot me again.”
Sacramento police officials still have not released the man’s name. They said they will continue to withhold his name until his medical treatment is complete and he can be booked at Sacramento County Main Jail. They also said additional details will be released as the investigation continues.
“All videos being released from this incident have been redacted to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of those involved,” according to the police news release. “The faces have been blurred and audio redactions are signified by muted audio.”
In the aftermath, the two Sacramento police officers involved in the shooting were directed to separate themselves from the scene.
“That is just standard protocol in officer-involved shootings to have officers separate so they can be isolated until interviewed by detectives,” Chan said.
In the bodycam footage from the first officer, he can be seen returning to his patrol car and sipping from his water bottle. He takes deep breaths as he faces the bullet holes in the driver’s side windshield where he fired his weapon. There is still shattered glass on his dashboard.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 4:10 PM.
