By Marco Cartolano
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Police Department on Thursday released video footage that shows the chaotic moments before New Orleans Police Officer Raychel Willey shot and killed a man earlier this month as he fled a Walmart in the Lower Garden District.
The NOPD shared with the media a compilation of public and private surveillance footage capturing the May 2 scene at 1901 Tchoupitoulas, where police say officers spotted 42-year-old Gregory Williams overdosing in his car and administered Narcan.
Williams reportedly behaved erratically before speeding away, hitting a bystander with his car and pulling Willey along with him.
“I think Officer Willey was quite the hero,” NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said. “She kept her head in an extremely stressful situation. We are blessed by God’s gracious hand that she was not killed in that event.”
Officers tried to administer Narcan
While working an off-duty, paid detail at the Walmart, Willey and her partner, Mikal Salahuddin were responding to a report of a minor crash when they found Williams in his car suffering from an apparent opioid overdose. Kirkpatrick said needles commonly used to inject drugs were present.
The car’s motor was still running, and the car was in drive. Attempts to put the car in park or turn it off were unsuccessful, officials said.
After Willey administered Narcan, Kirkpatrick said the officers were speaking to Williams when he became erratic, proceeding to speed off.
Footage from a Walmart security camera shows a gray car, with Williams at the wheel, backing out of a parking spot and speeding through the lot, hitting an unnamed woman who was about to load her groceries into her car.
Willey, hanging from the open driver’s side door, is pulled alongside the car through the parking lot. Officials said part of her uniform was stuck on the door.
Another security camera shows the car turning onto the 2000 block of Rousseau Street, with Willey still hanging from the car and Salahuddin chasing after it.
Shots fired
The moment Willey fires two shots with her service weapon, hitting Williams in the chest once, is captured in the footage but is not clearly visible, according to a police spokesperson.
Footage then shows her falling from the car and landing under the front bumper of a stopped truck that had been driving in the opposite direction down Rousseau. Williams continues speeding down the road.
Salahuddin arrives shortly after, kneeling beside his partner as the truck driver exits the vehicle to check on the officers.
Private surveillance footage offers an obscured view of Williams finally hitting another car. His vehicle was rendered inoperable, officials said.
Williams died on scene.
‘These officers need to be defended’
The pedestrian Williams hit was still hospitalized as of Thursday with a “significant” leg injury, but was stable, officials said.
Willey was injured and had not been medically cleared as of Thursday. She was reassigned to desk duty per NOPD procedure, but she will recover, Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said NOPD did not release body-worn camera footage of Willey administering Narcan to Williams, or of officers delivering aid after the crash at his family’s request.
Kirkpatrick said the officers were trained in administering Narcan and were aware that people experiencing overdoses are sometimes startled and erratic when they’re awakened. But not everyone behaves like Williams did, Kirkpatrick said.
“They come out to try to save a man’s life, and indeed in turn he tries to kill one of our officers. And that’s just unfortunate and I’m sorry again for the family, but these officers need to be defended,” Kirkpatrick said.
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