LOS ANGELES — Video released by the Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday showed a man shoving a gun into the waistband of his pants while fleeing before a fatal officer-involved shooting, according to authorities.
The video, taken from an unidentified business, showed what appeared to be an officer in pursuit of the man who was identified by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck as 18-year-old Carnell Snell Jr.
Snell was fatally shot Saturday by officers, leading to protests across South Los Angeles.
The video is likely to be the only footage released of the police pursuit. Beck said at a news conference Monday that the officers who opened fire on Snell were not wearing bodycams.
Police became suspicious of Snell after stopping a Nissan Altima with paper plates and noticing him in the back seat. The car attracted officers' attention as a possible stolen vehicle because it had paper plates that didn't match the vehicle's year, Beck said.
Snell ducked "as if to hide from them" before the car slowed and he was able to flee, the chief said. He was "holding his waistband as if he was holding something," which authorities later determined to be a 40 mm handgun, Beck said.
Officers chased Snell, who ran about 200 or 300 yards before coming to a stop in a driveway. He turned toward the officers with a handgun in his left hand and the officers opened fire, getting off six shots and striking Snell twice, Beck said.
Paramedics declared Snell dead at the scene of the shooting. Authorities recovered a semi-automatic handgun a few feet away from Snell's body.
"It was fully loaded with one in the chamber," Beck said.
Authorities continue to investigate the case.
The shooting was one of two police-involved shootings reported over the weekend. In the second, a Hispanic man, who was not identified, was shot and killed after pointing a gun at officers. Investigators recovered the firearm, which turned out to be a replica painted to look like a real weapon, Beck said.
The shootings come amid heightened tensions between police officers and community members in the wake of high-profile police-involved killings in Charlotte, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma and San Diego.
Cox Media Group
