Police have released body camera footage of the fatal shooting of a California rapper after the man’s family demanded they see the video.
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Back in February Willie McCoy was shot and killed in a Taco Bell drive-thru, and now police are finally releasing the footage. The video was edited by the Vallejo Police Department and was released on Friday, showing the incident in which six police officers repeatedly shot the 20-year-old after McCoy was found unresponsive in his car.
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In the video, McCoy can be seen scratching his shoulder as the officers have their guns aimed at him. The police demanded McCoy show his hands, but just as he begins to raise his hands, the police say in a caption that McCoy tried to reach for a gun in his lap. There was no gun shown at all at any point in the video. According to a February news release, police claimed to have fired through McCoy’s car windows while “fearing for their safety.” All six, armed policemen, who surrounded the young man claimed to have feared for their lives.
McCoy’s family attorney, John Burris, said police failed to safely removal of McCoy from his car. “Nothing in that video warranted those officers shooting Willie McCoy dozens of times,” Burris said at a news conference. In the video a police officer can be heard saying, “The magazine’s out, so if he shoots, he’s only got one shot.” However, the added caption in the edited video said the gun was loaded with an extended 14-round magazine.
The family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office is now investigating the incident. A police statement within the video says “body cameras do not always reflect what the officer’s eyes see” because of different angles.
The police involved have been placed on administrative leave; they have been identified as Ryan McMahon, Colin Eaton, Bryan Glick, Jordon Patzer, Anthony Romero-Cano and Mark Thompson. The investigation could take two years to find a final report.
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