Los Angeles Cops Shot Jermaine Petit After Realizing He Didn’t Have a Gun, Bodycam Footage Shows
Shortly after Los Angeles police officers shot a 39-year-old black man multiple times in the back, the department announced its officers believed he was carrying a gun. However, in camera footage of the July 18 incident released Wednesday, one officer can be heard saying, “It’s not a gun, man,” as they pursue him along the way. the set.
A 911 caller alerted law enforcement to a man walking around the area brandishing “a black semi-automatic gun,” according to the audio of the call. Responders stumbled across Jermaine Petit, who partially matched the caller’s description of the suspect, a few blocks from where the incident was reported.
In the footage, Petit is seen walking away as officers focus on him with their weapons drawn. An officer then said, “What… Man, you say that’s not a gun?”
Los Angeles Police Department
“Hey, drop it!” another, identified as Officer Daryl Glover Jr., as they chased Petit down a street.
As LAPD Sgt. Brett Hayhoe – a “uniformed supervisor”, as Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore would put it a day later – pulls Petit up with Petit in a team car, multiple gunshots are heard in the footage and Petit collapsed. As he moved on the ground, officers shouted at each other for cover and asked the 39-year-old to “stop reaching for it.”
The filming of Petit, an Air Force veteran with a history of mental illness, including PTSD, marks the LAPD’s 20th in 2022. Thursday’s release of the footage was first flagged by Streetsblog Los Angeles and Twitter users William Gude.
Hours after the shooting, a ministry spokesman told reporters the victim was armed. However, two days later, Moore returned to the charge, telling the Council of Commissioners that the object was not a weapon but a car part.
Pictures released last month, the department released the object in question – a 6-inch-long black metal object, identified by Moore as a latch actuator. Police went on to insist that the officers involved mistook the actuator for a gun, with one captain calling it a “non-working gun” in town hall for half an hour on July 28. Streetsblog Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Department
After the shooting, Petit was taken to the hospital, where he remained in critical condition for several days, according to a GoFundMe arranged by his daughter. On July 29, the LAPD said Petit was recovering from his injuries but was being held in hospital on two outstanding arrest warrants in lieu of $100,000 bail.
It was not immediately clear on Thursday if Petit remained hospitalized, with a request for an update on his condition filed by The Daily Beast not being immediately returned.
Two days after the shooting, law enforcement recommended that the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office file two counts of brandishing a copy gun against Petit.
A spokesman for Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said Thursday that the case is still being reviewed by his office. An investigation into the incident by the police department is still underway.
