A Shreveport police officer shot and killed a barehanded The black man who fled his home earlier this month was arrested Thursday morning, according to Louisiana State Police.
Police officer, Alexander Tyler, has been charged with negligent homicide nearly two weeks after Alonzo Bagley, 43, died at his apartment complex on February 3.
“Louisiana State Police Investigation Bureau detectives reviewed body-worn camera footage and other relevant evidence,” state police said in their announcement Thursday afternoon. “Based on their findings and in coordination with the Caddo Parish County District Attorney’s Office, the Army arrested Shreveport Police Officer Alexander Tyler this morning.”
Along with announcing the arrest, police also released some bodycam footage and 911 call recordings made the night Bagley was killed.
According to the arrest guaranteed, police were called by his wife to Bagley’s home, who said he was drunk and threatened her and her daughters. Police said that after police arrived, Bagley went into his bedroom, tried to “get something on the nightstand” and then escaped from the apartment by jumping over the balcony railing. As Bagley ran through the apartment complex, Tyler shot him in the chest at the entrance.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. You shot me,” Bagley, who raised his hands in the air, told the officer, according to the records. Tyler and another officer called to the scene attempted first aid, but he was later pronounced dead.
According to the affidavit, Tyler, 23, told police that Bagley approached him and that he “couldn’t see his hands.” But the arrest warrant states that “there are no known reports to officers responding that [Bagley] in possession of a dangerous weapon…[and] no unequivocal facts are provided… that would justify the need for deadly force.”
In one of the released bodycam videos, two officers can be seen knocking on the door of Bagley’s apartment. He replied with a bottle of wine in hand and refused to step outside, later saying he needed to take his dog and go back to the apartment.
Officers followed him into the back bedroom and saw Bagley jump over the balcony outside the room. The police officer with the camera left the apartment to follow Bagley as he ran through the apartment block. At one point, a loud gunshot was heard and Bagley could be seen collapsed next to a building. Another officer, who was already outside, then walked towards Bagley with a gun.
The second video shows Tyler chasing Bagley with a gun in his hand, before he turns around a corner of the building and shoots.
“No, no, no, man! Come on, buddy! Tyler was worried, seemingly surprised at the severity of Bagley’s injuries.
Bagley’s family said the footage proved that their loved one should not have lost their life that day.
Ron Haley, the family attorney, said: “Alonzo was very, very scared. “Everybody present at the scene, including the perpetrator Alexander Tyler, knew Mr. Bagley should not have been shot that night. He is not a threat. He deserves to live.”
