Long Beach police on Saturday released a 17-minute video showing portions of an hours-long standoff on the steps of a North Long Beach church that ended with a deadly shootout.
The footage gives the most in-depth look yet at the actions of officers, which have drawn fierce criticism from the family of the man who was killed. They said he was seeking help amid a mental health crisis and was met with unnecessary force.
By contrast, Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish has commended officers — one of whom was wounded by gunfire — for showing patience and care in the face of danger.
The video begins by showing a text message officers received on the afternoon of Nov. 19 reporting a gunman at the church on Atlantic Avenue near 52nd Street. Brandon Boyd, who was on the steps when officers arrived, later acknowledges sending the text.
The video shows portions of officers’ conversations with Boyd, 38, where they say he made “suicidal comments.”
When a police negotiator tells Boyd she knows he’s having a bad day, he responds that he’s “having a bad life.”
At one point, he says that if he had “a bigger caliber, I would’ve just pointed it to myself and found a nice, quiet place.”
In another clip, he tells an officer, “Bro, you cannot help me. At some point, I’m going to force your hand.”
Police said the negotiations lasted for more than two hours, at which point SWAT officers devised a plan to “separate Boyd from the firearm” he had.
The video shows clips of officers throwing a flashbang toward Boyd and firing foam projectiles at him. At that point, a security camera video from inside the church shows Boyd grabbing an item on the ground behind him and pointing it toward officers.
In annotations police added the video, they say it was a handgun and Boyd fired “multiple rounds” toward officers. The video does not indicate if Boyd hit anyone, but Police Chief Hebeish has previously said they believe one of Boyd’s bullets wounded an officer in the arm.
Boyd’s family has suggested the wound could have been caused by friendly fire from one of the four officers who shot at Boyd.
A retired police officer who reviewed the video at the request of the Long Beach Post said Boyd clearly intended to commit “suicide by cop,” but he questioned some of the department’s tactics, including the decision to throw a flashbang and the fact that four different officers shot at Boyd. He said the release of all footage from that night could shed light on officers’ decision-making.
Police released the video of Boyd’s death — which has drawn widespread local media coverage — more swiftly than usual. In recent police shootings, it’s taken between one and three months for Long Beach police to make public similar footage.
Because of a 2019 state law, police departments are required to release video and audio from all police shootings without delay unless they can cite specific reasons why the disclosure would endanger a witness or interfere with an investigation.
Long Beach police have not yet released the unedited, unannotated footage from this or any other police shooting so far this year.
In addition to pushing for police to release the footage, Boyd’s family and the local Black Lives Matter chapter urged Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson to take a stance on what happened and “hold the police department accountable.”
Richardson put out a statement Saturday timed with the video’s release saying he acknowledges “the deep pain, grief, and strong emotions that the events on the night of November 19th has caused many in our community, members of the Boyd family, our first responders.”
In his communications with the chief of police, Richardson said he “advocated for transparency and the timely release of critical documents in order to ensure clarity and maintain public trust.”
You can watch the video, which includes disturbing content, here.