Four Anaheim police officers fired at and fatally shot a man who they believed was armed but turned out to have a BB gun, according to body-worn camera footage of the December shooting released on Friday, March 28.
The report and video released by the Anaheim Police Department shows that around 7 pm. on Dec. 27, a 911 caller told dispatchers a man threatened him and tried to steal his car keys and cell phone while he was at the Chevron gas station at East and South streets.
The caller, who left, told police the man was still at the gas station and seemed like he was pulling at his waist, as if he could have been armed, according to a translation of the 911 call.
Warning: Some people may find this video disturbing:
Officers arrived and talked to the caller, who said he didn’t want to press charges for the attempted theft but asked police to search for the man. After not finding the man, they cleared the call.
About 40 minutes later, the caller reported that he went back to the gas station, found the suspect and wanted police to return. Two new officers responded and followed the caller to the area of South and Bond streets, where the caller pointed out the man, 30-year-old Alexis Salas of Yorba Linda, walking on the sidewalk.
Police tried to contact Salas and believed he was reaching toward his waistband before he fled on foot. One officer followed on foot and the other followed with their vehicle, according to the body-worn camera footage.
Salas appeared to yell profanities at officers as they chased him on various streets. Officers then believed that Salas pointed a handgun at the officer following him in a police car, the video shows.
Officers followed Salas around the corner and yelled at him to drop his weapon before he went into a resident’s backyard. They attempted to secure a perimeter around the area with more officers.
Police lost sight of Salas for a short time before they saw him running again. Officers shot at him several times, yelled at Salas again and fired at least five more shots, the footage shows.
In all, four officers fired their guns at Salas, police said.
Police removed what appeared to be a black gun from Salas’ hand and attempted life-saving measures until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he died.
Investigators later learned that the weapon was a semi-automatic BB gun.
The shooting remains under investigation by the California Department of Justice and the Anaheim Police Department. Police said the investigation could take up to a year to complete.