LOS ANGELES — When two Los Angeles police officers confronted Jermaine Petit on an evening in July, one of them quickly realized that reports Petit was carrying a gun were inaccurate.
"It's not a gun, bro," the officer told his partner about the metallic object in Petit's hand, according to video of the incident from the officer's body-worn camera that the Los Angeles Police Department made public Thursday.
Despite the officer's declaration, he and his partner opened fire on Petit seconds later, leaving the unarmed and mentally ill man badly wounded, according to the department's account of the shooting.
