Cottonwood Heights, Utah, police released body camera footage from several officers Monday from a shooting that wounded a teenage boy earlier this month.
One of the videos is taken from the perspective of the officer who shot the teen after repeatedly yelling commands for him to “drop the gun” and “get on the ground.”
The teen was in a car that led police on a highway chase, where speeds on northbound Interstate 15 topped 100 mph at about 3:10 a.m. on Sept. 3, according to the footage.
After the car crashes, the teenage driver and a female passenger exit the vehicle and flee on foot under a freeway overpass at 1300 South in Salt Lake City, the officer reports in the video.
The officer exits his police car and yells commands at the teen. The teen gets onto the ground, but at one point reaches toward his pants, and the officer fires at least one shot at the teen, the video shows.
After the officer handcuffed the teen, the boy claimed he had only been reaching for a phone in his pocket, according to the video.
The teen also tells officers tending to his wounds that he doesn’t have a gun, and says he “was just trying to call [his] parents.”
After the shooting, officers reportedly found a gun in the teen’s pants, said Cottonwood Heights police Sgt. Ryan Shosted. Video shows officers pull a knife from the teen’s pocket.
The video and audio clearly depict one of the areas that isn’t being adequately communicated by agencies. While the suspect is saying “I’m not moving sir” he is clearly raising his elbow while his hand appears to be going for his waistband.
Additionally, several seconds before he had pulled his left hand back even with his lower torso / waist area while cocking his left knee. That is not a position of compliance or submission, but rather preparatory to assault or flight. If you don’t want to be perceived as doing those things, don’t do them.