By Caleb Lunetta
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — San Diego police released video footage Monday of an officer fatally shooting a 32-year-old man who appeared suicidal and charged at police with a knife last month in Ocean Beach.
Officer Yosgart Miranda shot and killed Jacob Epple after the officer received a report of a man confronting random community members and saying he wanted to die on May 31.
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Miranda has been a patrol officer for two years in the San Diego Police Department’s Western Division, officials said.
The county Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation under a reciprocal agreement with San Diego police so neither department investigates its own officers or deputies.
The edited video released Monday includes Miranda’s body-worn camera footage as well as text explaining the incident.
The video begins by saying that on the day of the shooting, dispatchers received a report around 9:10 a.m. of a man “standing in the middle of the street next to his car, blocking traffic” on Coronado Avenue near Santa Barbara Street.
Before officers arrive, text in the video says the man, later identified as Epple, hops back into his black Mercedes and takes off. He then stops at the intersection of Coronado Avenue and Guizot Street, where Epple has his first encounter with Miranda.
The video cuts to Miranda’s body camera footage, which shows Epple telling the officer he wants to die before pulling away in his car.
Miranda re-enters his police vehicle and the pursuit begins, the video shows. It heads west, where a crash occurs at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Pescadero Drive.
Epple, who officers say was armed with a knife, exits his vehicle and approaches the officer with the weapon, the video shows. Before a confrontation occurs, Epple hops back into his vehicle again and flees.
The pursuit then ends when a second collision occurs at the intersection of Bermuda Avenue and Ebers Street , according to the video.
Multiple officers arrive at the scene, Epple exits his vehicle again and two officers use Tasers in an attempt to stop him.
The videos show officers giving him commands to drop the knife, but Epple refuses.
Epple holds the knife to his own neck and approaches Mirdana with the knife still to his neck, the video shows.
“Kill me! Kill me!” Epple is heard saying while approaching the officer.
Epple turns around as additional Tasers make contact with him. He falls to the ground next to his crashed vehicle.
While lying on the ground, Miranda warns Epple that he will shoot him unless he complies with their orders. He tells the other officers to get some distance between them and the man.
“Leave me alone, I want to die. I’m about to slit my own throat,” Epple says.
“He can’t drop (the knife) if he’s being Tased,” Miranda says to his fellow officers. He then tells the other officers to back up and give him some space. Miranda then turns back to Epple.
“Follow my orders and you won’t get shot,” Miranda says.
“Shoot me, please,” Epple says as he stands up. He reaches back into his car to grab the knife that he had dropped, text in the video says.
The video then shows him charge toward Miranda with the knife in his hand. The officer fires his handgun three times, striking Epple.
Epple falls to his knees and, between gunshots, he can be heard still talking to the officers. They continue to tell him to drop the knife before they approach and put the man in handcuffs.
Officers begin performing life-saving measures until paramedics arrive, the video shows.
Epple was taken to a hospital, where he died.
After the Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation, the District Attorney’s Office will review it, as it does all shootings involving law enforcement, to determine whether the officers bear any criminal liability.
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