New body camera footage out of Texas shows just how quickly police interactions can turn violent and gives a window into the kind of incidents we will be seeing as police departments across the country adopt body cameras.
Sgt. Gabriel Green and Officer Kaylynn Griffin fatally shot James Bushey, 47, outside a restaurant May 31, and newly released body camera footage shows the entire incident.
The two officers walk into an Applebee’s and go to the bathroom where Bushey is washing his hands. He was a suspect in relation to theft at a Wal-Mart, KLTV reports.
In the video, Bushey says “What do you need?” Green tells him he’s a suspect in a theft case and he needs to come outside. Bushey stands there silently.
“Don’t act dumb for me, come on and step out, you’re on video, ok?” Green says. “You’re on video. Get out.”
They walk outside the restaurant and Griffin asks Bushey, “You have any ID on you, sir?”
Then, Bushey pulls out what appears to be a handgun.
“Gun! Gun! Gun!” Griffin yells, and the officers open fire. A taser hits the man, and then a wall of bullets.
Green’s body camera shows his perspective from a camera on his glasses.
WARNING: These videos are extremely graphic.
Griffin’s camera shows her perspective.
The gun turned out to be a realistic-looking BB gun.
“Although the initial investigation has revealed that the gun the suspect brandished was a BB gun designed to look like a 9mm handgun, in the rapidly developing situation the officers took appropriate defensive measures in using deadly force against the suspect to stop the threat,” Palestine Police Chief Mike Alexander told KETK.
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