Long Beach police today released body camera video of the moment an officer fatally shot a man holding a gun in MacArthur Park.
Footage the department posted on YouTube shows two officers driving up to a man who was sitting on a bench in the park at around 4:30 p.m. on April 17.
Officers had been told the man was armed with a gun, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
In the footage, officers immediately draw their weapons and start demanding the man take his hands out of his pockets. As the man slowly backs away from them and repeatedly asks why, the officers also begin telling the man to “drop the gun” or risk getting shot.
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When the man pulls the gun out of his jacket pocket, one of the officers fires twice, shooting the man and knocking him to the ground. As the man lies on the ground on his back, he’s still holding the gun, the video shows.
The officer yells, “Let go,” and fires again when the man begins raising the gun.
The man’s arm then goes limp and someone off-screen yells, “Hey, man, he’s down, quit it.”
Police said the man, later identified as 47-year-old Donald Washington, died at the hospital.
State law requires the LBPD to release footage of police shootings.
As is standard practice, the shooting will be reviewed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to determine if the officers’ actions were legal. The LBPD will also review the situation to make sure their actions fell within department policy.