On Sunday April 27, police in Long Beach, California, shot and killed a visibly unarmed man as he ran away from them and toward the beach. The incident was caught on camera and you can watch it above. Police say the confrontation began at a nearby Target and was sparked by “a crime allegedly committed at the store.”
The police department told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday that the man allegedly pulled out a large pair of scissors before fleeing to car and driving to the 1800 block of East Ocean Boulevard. That is where the video above was taken of the incident.
In the video, the man can be seen fleeing from the police with a wooden stick in his hand. According to the police, officers first fired a “stun bag” and then rubber bullets at the fleeing suspect. Police say this is when the suspect confronted the officers. Although the video reveals the suspect is still running with his back to the officers, police said, “believing the suspect had just engaged deputies in a gunfight, was still armed, and remained an immediate threat to law enforcement and the public gathered on the beach,” they opened fire.
The video shows the suspect being shot in the back a number of times, and writhing on the ground in pain for around two minutes before the police finally approach him. He died in the hospital later that day. The Long Beach Press Telegram reports that the incident is being investigated, and that this is the first offer-involved shooting incident of the year.
