Thread: Video appears to show Texas cops kill man with hands up

Video appears to show cops kill man with hands up

Matthew Diebel, USATODAY11:56 a.m. EDT September 1, 2015


Gilbert Flores, who was shot to death by police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call.(Photo: Bexar County Sheriff's Office)



Video has emerged that appears to show two Texas police officers killing a man who had his hands up.

Cell phone footage obtained by a local TV station, KSAT, and available on its website, shows two San Antonio-area sheriff's deputies shooting 41-year-old Gilbert Flores Friday after they responded to a domestic disturbance call.

According to another station, KENS-TV, police said the deputies found a woman who was bleeding from her head and holding a toddler who also may have been hurt.

At first, Flores is seen running shirtless in front of a home as the officers approach him. He then seems to put his hands up moments before they shoot him to the ground.



KENS 5
Deputies who shot, killed man are identified

"He put his hands in the air and they just shot him twice," Michael Thomas, the man who KSAT says filmed the video, told the station.

After the incident, the officers were identified by police officials as Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez. Both have more than 10 years on the force, and have been put on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Thomas said he recorded the incident because of increased publicity about police-involved killings.

"I thought with everything going on in the world, with police shootings and everything, I thought I would record what was happening," he told CNN.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said Flores was armed with a knife and resisting arrest when deputies showed up. Neither deputy was wearing a body camera.

"We are aware that there is recorded video which appears to show the final moments of this deputy-involved shooting," Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said Friday. "It's among many pieces of evidence that we are collecting to determine what happened."



USA TODAY
Suspect killed in St. Louis officer-involved shooting


The incident began when deputies received a call to a block in the northwest section of the city regarding a woman who allegedly had been assaulted, according to Bexar County Sheriff's Office public information officer James Keith.

According to Keith, Flores at one point grabbed a deputy's taser and threw it as deputies attempted to use non-lethal force during the approximately 20-minute confrontation.

Because the video is shot from a distance, it's not clear whether Flores is holding a knife, and though it's clear Flores has one hand up, the other is obscured by a utility pole.

"As the guy and police were going back and forth, the man acted like he was going to run back inside his house and then ran around the cars by the cop car and the cops started pursuing closer to him," Thomas told CNN.

Authorities said Flores resisted arrest, and that nonlethal force — stun guns and shields — were used to try to subdue him, but those didn't work, Pamerleau said.



USA TODAY
Police release video moments before Ferguson shooting


"Certainly what's in the video is a cause for concern," Pamerleau said. "But it's important to let the investigation go through its course so we can ensure a thorough and complete review of all that occurred."

The Bexar County District Attorney's Office has joined the investigation, according to KSAT.

Nicholas "Nico" LaHood, the Bexar County district attorney, told KSAT there's a second video of the incident that has a closer and clearer view of what happened.

James Keith, media relations officer for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, confirmed to CNN that his office has a second video of the shooting by someone else, but he would not go into detail about what it shows.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...nder/71511908/

Sheriff: Texas man killed by deputies was armed with knife

By Associated Press September 2 at 1:41 PM

SAN ANTONIO — A Texas sheriff says deputies who gunned down a man whose hands were raised believe he was holding a knife at the time.

Bexar (bayr) County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau told the San Antonio Express-News (http://bit.ly/1iictws ) on Tuesday that Gilbert Flores was carrying a knife when the deputies confronted him Friday outside of a home northwest of San Antonio.

She says the deputies believe he was still holding it when they shot him.

A motorist captured video showing the 41-year-old Flores standing motionless with his hands raised in apparent surrender when he was shot. A utility pole obscured one of his arms, though.

Pamerleau says investigators are reviewing video of the confrontation. She previously said Flores was armed but didn’t say what type of weapon he allegedly had.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...362_story.html

Second video, audio recording indicate man was armed when killed by officers

NDN-VIDEO-4005926223.movRaw Audio Reveals New Details in Fatal Police Shooting in San AntonioNDN-VIDEO-4005926235.movMan who shot video of Texas police shooting speaks out (CNN)

CNN and Reuters

REUTERS:
An audio recording released on Wednesday of a conversation between a dispatcher and Texas county deputies, whose fatal shooting of a man raised questions of whether they acted properly, indicate the man was armed and suicidal and had just harmed his wife and baby.

Gilbert Flores, 41, was killed on Friday by two Bexar County deputies. A cell phone video of the incident, which took place near San Antonio, appeared to show the victim with his hands in the air before being shot.

The dispatcher's audio was made available to the media by a source in the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. In it, the dispatcher is heard telling deputies that Flores has a knife but the audio does not indicate how she came into that information.

"He is threatening suicide by cop," the dispatcher said, referring to a person who is intentionally using the threat of deadly force to provoke officers into shooting them.

The dispatcher also tells an ambulance crew called to the home that "the male that called it in assaulted his wife and child, so possibly two patients," indicating it was Flores who called the 911 emergency number.

The comments on the audio also indicate that shots had been fired before the shots that killed Flores, although the dispatcher does not say who fired them.

Sheriff's officials have said Flores was armed but did not indicate what weapon he had.

Activists said the video, which was broadcast on a local TV station KSAT this week, shows Flores was unarmed and appeared to surrender when he was shot.

The video, made from more than a block away by a bystander, does not include any conversation between Flores and the deputies.

The two deputies involved in the shooting, Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, have been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation, as per protocol.

The deputies and the victim are Hispanic. Special Agent Michelle Lee said civil rights investigators from the FBI will review the case.

The shooting came after questions have been raised about racial bias in U.S. policing due to incidents that sparked protests nationwide, including the killing of an unarmed black teenager in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, a year ago by a white officer.

CNN coverage continues below.
Michael Thomas was just taking a quick break from his job working on a house in a neighborhood outside San Antonio, Texas, when he noticed a lot of commotion. Ambulances and police cars had pulled up at a home.

He thought, "There's a lot of things going on in the world," he told CNN on Wednesday, and he decided he'd do what he had seen so many other people in the news doing lately. He pulled out his cell phone, ready to record if needed.

"It happened so fast," Thomas said.

Standing across the street, Thomas saw -- and recorded -- two Bexar County sheriff's deputies and a shirtless man. The man, Gilbert Flores, raises at least one hand in the air and is then shot and falls on his back. He died.

"Why did they shoot him?" Thomas said on CNN's "New Day."

The man, from what he could see, "wasn't attacking" the officers, Thomas said. "At the time he was shot, it didn't look like he was posing a threat at all."

"As the guy and police were going back and forth, the man acted like he was going to run back inside his house, and then ran around the cars by the cop car, and the cops started pursuing closer to him," Thomas said.

Because Thomas' video is shot from a distance across a street, it's impossible to hear what the officers or Flores might have said.

The shooting has disturbed many.

Nelson Wolff, the Bexar County judge and its highest elected official, told The New York Times that he feels Flores' video shows an incident that is "very shocking and looks very bad."

"I've been in this position for 14 years, and I've never seen anything like it," he told the newspaper.

A second video
Authorities are examining the footage Thomas took and another video of the incident that has yet to be made public. The police have it and have not released it.

The second video shows Flores holding a knife as he's shot, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Wednesday.

Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas LaHood told CNN that the second video is "a better view to make an assessment on what happened. It is a closer view and a better angle."

He also characterized the second video as "troubling." He added that the FBI has joined the investigation into Flores' death. The San Antonio division of the FBI confirmed that it opened a civil rights investigation Tuesday, "to determine whether a civil rights violation took place as a result of a deputy willfully engaging in the use of excessive or unjustified force."

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who represents the area, urged that the second video be made public.

"I hope the Bexar County Sheriff's Office will release the second video in the Gilbert Flores shooting as soon as possible," he tweeted Tuesday.

A domestic violence call
Thomas told CNN's "New Day" that after he finished recording the four-minute video, he went back to work and told co-workers about it. They urged him to give it to the media.

It didn't make sense to him to hand over what he'd captured to police, he said.

CNN affiliate KSAT first broadcast the video, and CNN obtained the footage.

The incident comes at a time when law enforcement officers are under scrutiny for how and when they resort to lethal force.

The killings of several people by police over the past year have heightened tensions with the communities they serve, especially among minorities.

Authorities were called to Flores' home Friday for a report of domestic violence. Dispatch communication shows that a woman in the house had a gash on her head and that her baby may have been injured, too.

Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said that Flores resisted arrest and nonlethal force -- stun guns and shields -- were used to try to subdue him, but those methods didn't work.

"Certainly what's in the video is a cause for concern," she said. "But it's important to let the investigation go through its course so we can ensure a thorough and complete review of all that occurred."

Pamerleau said both deputies fired shots after a "lengthy confrontation."

The deputies are Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, the Sheriff's Office said.

CNN has attempted to contact them but been unsuccessful so far.

Police say he was resisting arrest

The deputies are Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, the Sheriff's Office said. They are on administrative leave.

CNN has attempted to contact them but been unsuccessful so far. Each has been with the Sheriff's Office for more than a decade, Pamerleau said.

Flores had previous run-ins with the law. He was cited for possession of marijuana in 1995, criminal trespassing and aggravated assault in 1999, and aggravated robbery in 2003.

'Threats to our deputies' lives'
KSAT posted the entire video on its website. "Other than editing for language, the video is the entirety of what we received from Michael Thomas," it said.

The station told the Sheriff's Office about the video and sent it there, but the station did not give any warning that it would post the entire raw video Monday, said James Keith, media relations officer for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

Now, Keith says, the Sheriff's Office is worried about the safety of its deputies in light of the video's public release. On Monday, it tweeted a statement that said "broadcasting a man's death for $100 sparked threats to our deputies' lives. Let KSAT know what you think."

In a post on its website, KSAT explained the decision to show the video and the discussions station management had with Thomas.

"Before sharing the video with us, Thomas asked for payment. While most viewers share video with us at no charge, we agreed to pay Thomas a $100 licensing fee for the video. It is not uncommon for news organizations to pay for video from freelancers or citizen journalists."

The station said it was making no judgment about the officers' actions, but it was obligated to share "information in the public interest."

When asked about the Sheriff's Office tweet, Keith cited the case of Darren Goforth, a deputy who was shot from behind and killed while filling up his car at a gas station.

"After what happened in Harris County, we are not going to take any chances," he said. "Now our deputies are coming to work in civilian clothes because of their concern for safety."

Hours later, the sheriff's office sent out a message with the following statement: "In regards to the deputy involved shooting, we're asking for calm and patience. We are diligently working to complete the investigation so we can move to the next step. We want to get this right for the Flores family, our deputies and our community."

In an opinion piece, CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos reminds readers that several things that the video didn't include will be crucial issues in an investigation. For one, the video doesn't provide audio of the exchange between the police and Flores.

Any threats of violence would be important to consider, he writes.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/na...illed-officers