EL CENTRO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Police bodycam footage released Tuesday shows the moment an officer fatally shot an unarmed 22-year-old man after responding to reports of a home burglary and a suspect with a gun.
The City of El Centro on Tuesday released this Critical Incident Community Briefing video that shows the bodycam footage from the officer-involved shooting on May 21 in El Centro.
Warning: The video contains graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.
Officers with the El Centro Police Department responded to a call for a person that broke into a home and was chased out by the residents, and another call for a person with a gun, both near Second and State streets.
The video shows footage from the in-car camera. You see the officer pull up to the scene and engage a person that fit the suspect’s description who was walking backwards holding something in his left hand.
The video shows the officer shoot the man seconds after he points the object at the officer. There is no audio of the shooting until 30 seconds later when you can hear the officer calling for medical aid.
The man, identified as Ezequiel Espinoza, 22, an El Centro resident, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The video then shows a photo of the object the man was holding, which turned out not to be a gun.
A GoFundMe, Justice for Ezequiel Espinoza: Funeral & Legal Aid, has been set up.
The El Centro Police Department says the officer-involved shooting will be reviewed by the police department and is under investigation by the Department of Justice, in accordance with California Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506).
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