Tracy police release video where officer shot 17-year-old teen
Days after a 17-year-old was hospitalized after he was shot by officers, the Tracy Police Department in San Joaquin County released body-worn camera footage of the shooting and the moments leading up to it.
Police said the teen was armed with a knife and chasing after a person who officials later learned to be his brother on Jan. 27, prompting several 911 calls by onlookers. The teen with the knife was ultimately shot twice by a 28-year-old veteran with the department.
The teen has serious injuries, police said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the police department openly reviewed the body cam footage with members of the media.
Below are descriptions of events in the video:
About 30 seconds into the video provided by the Tracy Police Department, an officer can be seen exiting his video at 1:56 p.m. and asking the teen's brother to have a seat. The brother then points to the teen, who approached them on a bicycle holding a knife.
The officer asked the teen on the bike to put down the knife five times — that teen did not and kept getting closer — before the officer fired his gun twice. The teen can be heard screaming before he fell to the ground. Blood was visible on his shirt.
The initial call for police came in at 1:47 p.m. The shooting happened near Silvertail Place and Foxtail Way.
Audio of one of the 911 calls was also released. The caller described to dispatchers that they saw somebody chasing another person with a knife.
Surveillance video before the shooting showed some type of struggle between two teens.
Sekou Millington, the Tracy Police Chief, said shortly after the shooting, a woman believed to be the teen's mother arrived with another man and a child. The woman picked up the knife the teen held and dropped it immediately when the officer told her to drop it.
The family can be heard screaming and examining the teen's wounds. The officer can be heard telling the group to get away.
Millington said more officers were called to the shooting scene after the officer who fired the gun confirmed there were multiple family members present.
An officer can be seen applying a tourniquet to the teen's arm where he was shot. Another officer also picked up the knife the teen was holding.
Paramedics eventually came to the scene and took over the medical care of the teen.
You can view the full footage in this link, but be advised there is graphic material in the videos.