A video released by a Southern California police department showed a man wrestling a gun away from an officer and getting into her police car before another officer shot and killed him.
An officer said 鈥渉e has my gun. He has my gun. Please don鈥檛 shoot me. Please don鈥檛 shoot me,” in body camera video released Wednesday by the Fountain Valley Police Department.
She got out of her car and hid behind a mail truck before another officer arrived and shot through the cruiser’s window, breaking it before shooting and killing the suspect.
The suspect in the Jan. 24 shooting was identified as Osean McClintock, 26, of Fountain Valley.
Officers were responding to a report of a 鈥渄isturbed鈥 man trying to open the door of a car occupied by a woman as she was leaving a middle school, Lt. Mike Parsons of the Fountain Valley Police Department said in a briefing posted online with the video footage. The caller noted the woman appeared 鈥渧isibly shaken.”
A male officer first approached McClintock on the side of the road. The video showed McClintock repeating 鈥淚n Jesus鈥 name, I pray forever. Amen鈥 before running away. The officer chased him on a charge of resisting arrest but lost sight of him and radioed to colleagues to 鈥渏ust let him go鈥 if he ran again.
Another officer radioed that she copied and turned on her camera when she saw him in front of her car, which delayed her video鈥檚 audio. As she got out of the car holding her gun, McClintock tried to grab it and she ended up on the ground in the scuffle.
McClintock repeated, 鈥淵ou’re saved in Jesus’ name forever.鈥 as he fought for the gun.
When the second officer arrived, McClintock was standing in the street holding the gun. The officer shouted, 鈥淧ut it down, dude! Put it down!鈥
McClintock then entered the police vehicle and shut the door as the officer began firing. Bullets broke the window and hit McClintock as the officer radioed in the shooting.
Police performed CPR on the man, but he was pronounced dead by the Fountain Valley Fire Department. Both officers involved were unharmed, according to radio traffic. Their names were not released because of the ongoing administrative investigation, Parsons said.
The shooting is being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Geoffrey Alpert, an expert on deadly force and professor at University of South Carolina, said it was extremely rare for a suspect to get ahold of an officer’s gun.
Exiting her vehicle with the gun like that put the officer in a 鈥渧ery vulnerable situation” but it is important to hear what the officer’s reasons were for drawing her weapon, he said.
If the first officer said 鈥渓et him go,鈥 Alpert said, “I don鈥檛 blame her for trying to apprehend him, but why with a gun?鈥
He also said it was important to question what the imminent threat was to the officer or anyone for the male officer to pull the trigger.
鈥淚s he shooting because he perceives the guy is pointing the gun at him? Or is he shooting because he doesn鈥檛 want the guy to get away with a stolen gun and a stolen vehicle,鈥 Alpert said.
Fountain Valley, a city of about 55,000, is located in Orange County and approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
