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BWC: Man approaches officers, points replica handgun at them before OIS

The man said he “didn’t want to live no more;” Sacramento officers told him to not grab his gun, and said they would help him as they backpedaled while he approached them

By Lia Russell
The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO — Sacramento police released video footage on Friday of the May 13 incident in which officers shot a man brandishing a fake gun in the city’s River District .

The 12-minute narrated video was released per department policy of releasing body camera video and audio within 30 days after an officer shoots someone. It also includes video from a nearby witness who took footage of the incident and previously provided it to The Sacramento Bee .

Officers arrived around 9:09 a.m. on the 200 block of North 16th Street after a caller reported to 911 that a man was waving a handgun and pointing it at people as he walked from the 200 block of North B Street to North 16th Street .

Four minutes later, police shot the man, who has not been publicly identified.

According to the video, the man repeatedly refused to listen to officers’ directions to put his hands up, walked toward them and tugged multiple times at his right-hand side pocket, where the firearm could been seen sticking out.

The man said his wife had left him, and that he “didn’t want to live no more.” Officers responded by telling him to not reach for his gun, and said they would help him as they backpedaled while he approached them.

After shooting him, officers gave the man medical assistance and arrested him, after which they recovered the gun and determined it was an imitation firearm, according to a Police Department news release.

The man was booked into Sacramento County Main Jail on charges of resisting arrest and brandishing an imitation firearm after being treated for serious injuries, according to police.

A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question Saturday about the man’s identity or if he was still in jail.

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