By Joanna Putman
Police1
MESQUITE, Texas — Body camera footage shows officers shooting a secondary school student in the leg as he reached for a loaded handgun, according to a critical incident release from the Mesquite Police Department.
Audio from a 911 call shows that school administrators had isolated the student in an office. The administrators had also initiated a school lockdown, according to the release. The 911 caller can be heard telling the student to “put the gun back on the floor.”
Officers arrived at the scene in about two minutes, according to the release. Body camera video shows theadministrator standing in the doorway of the office where the student was sitting. The woman told officers that the student was alone in the room and that the gun was on the floor.
Officers spoke to the student for nearly five minutes, attempting to de-escalate the situation. The student cannot be heard responding to officers in the video provided.
The student can then be seen reaching for the gun on the ground in the officers’ body camera video as well as in security footage. One officer then fired three shots at the student.
After the initial shots were fired, security camera footage shows the door of the office closing. An officer pulls the door open to maintain a visual, at which point the student can be seen standing and facing the officers with the gun in hand. Three officers fired several shots at the student, according to the release.
The door closed again, and officers began to negotiate with the student through the door, instructing him to exit the office. When he did come out, he was taken into custody without further incident. The student suffered a non-life-threatening leg injury as a result of the shooting. No other students, administrators or officers were injured.
An investigation following the shooting found that the handgun was loaded and that the student came to the school with the “intentions of harming others,” according to the release.