Los Angeles police shot a Black man three times in the back moments after officers stated he was unarmed, and then claimed in the wake of the shooting that a metal car part he was carrying was a “non-functioning firearm”.
Body camera footage released this week shows Jermaine Petit, 39, being approached by LAPD officers responding to a 911 call on 18 July on the corner of Bronson Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard in Leimart Park after a witness said they had seen a man brandishing a “black semi-automatic” weapon.
Footage shows several officers converge on Mr Petit as he walks down the street, and one can be heard saying: “It’s not a gun, bro.”
The officers continue to follow Mr Petit, who police says was a military veteran with a history of mental illness, and order him to take his hands out of his pocket.
He starts to run from the officers when they open fire, hitting him with three shots into his back.
As he lies critically injured face down on the ground, the officers continue to shout at him not to move and aim their weapons at him.
“We’re going to have to roll him over and handcuff him... someone needs to secure the gun,” an officer says on the footage.
After the shooting, Mr Petit was taken to hospital where he remained in a critical condition for several days, his daughter Ashlyn Petit said in a GoFundme post.
At a news conference hours after the shooting, an LAPD spokesman said Mr Petit had been carrying a “weapon”, according to the Los Angeles Times.
It later retracted the statement and said in a press release he had been carrying a “black metal latch actuator”.
The release included a transcript of the 911 call.
At a town hall meeting a on 28 July, an LAPD chief said the car part resembled a “non-functioning firearm”, according to a clip posted to the Film The Police LA Twitter account.
The officers involved in the shooting have been identified as Sergeant Brett Hayhoe and Officer Daryl Glover Jr.
Mr Glover is the son of Los Angeles Police Protective League vice president Jerretta Sandoz, a police union that defends officers in the LAPD division he is assigned to, Knock-LA.com reported.
LAPD captain Kelly Muniz said in the video released on Thursday that the investigation into the officer-involved shooting was still in its preliminary stage and could take up to a year to complete.
Ms Muniz said Mr Petit was arrested for two outstanding felony warrants of obstructing an officer and assault with a deadly weapon on an officer.
The LAPD has recommended charging Mr Petit with two counts of brandishing a replica firearm, Ms Muniz said.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer toldThe Daily Beast said the case was still under review.
The LAPD did not immediately respond to a series of questions about the incident from The Independent.
