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Police Release Video Of Deadly City Heights Officer-Involved Shooting

A still from an officer's body-worn camera at a fatal police shooting in City Heights on July 9, 2020.
San Diego Police Department
A still from an officer's body-worn camera at a fatal police shooting in City Heights on July 9, 2020.

UPDATE: 7:20 p.m., July 10, 2020

San Diego police on Friday released the body-worn camera video of the fatal officer-involved shooting in City Heights on Thursday afternoon.

Police say the man pointed a gun at officers before officers returned fire, killing the man, whose name has not been released.

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The gun turned out to be a pellet gun.

Police Release Video Of Deadly City Heights Officer-Involved Shooting

The video footage was released within 24 hours of the deadly encounter, which is becoming the norm for the San Diego Police Department. This is the third police shooting in the city of San Diego in less than two weeks.

Videos from the previous shootings were all released within 48 hours.

ORIGINAL STORY:

An investigation was underway Friday morning into the deadly shooting of an armed man by San Diego police near Hoover High School.

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Police received a 911 call about 3:50 p.m. Thursday of a man with a gun in the 4200 block of Menlo Avenue in Talmadge. Two women in the area said a man with a gun confronted them, worked the slide of the gun as if he were loading it and pointed it at them, according to Lt. Matt Dobbs of the San Diego Police Department.

The women drove off and called police. When officers arrived, the women directed them to the man who by that time was in the 4200 block of Menlo Avenue, near El Cajon Boulevard, Dobbs said.

Officers could see the man had a gun and took covered positions to give him directions. At one point, the man raised his hands and the gun fell to the ground, Dobbs said.

The man was ordered by officers to move away from the gun, but he refused, then picked up the gun and began to point it at officers, prompting several officers to open fire, Dobbs said.

VIDEO: Police Shooting Leaves Man Dead In City Heights

The man was struck at least once and fell to the ground, but was still moving and holding the gun, which he pointed again in the officers' direction, prompting a second round of gunfire, Dobbs said.

Officers moved in to take him into custody and began life-saving efforts. Paramedics from San Diego Fire-Rescue relieved officers and continued life-saving attempts, but the man died from his injuries, Dobbs said.

The name of the suspect was not disclosed.

A weapon was recovered at the scene, but it was unclear if the weapon was real or operational.

No other injuries were reported.

A total of seven officers fired their weapons. None of the officers are being identified, but all were assigned to Mid-City Division and have been placed on administrative duty, Dobbs said.

The shooting is under investigation by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, the department's Internal Affairs Unit and Shooting Review Board, as well as the Community Review Board on Police Practices. The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office will monitor the investigation, Dobbs said.

Anyone who witnessed this shooting was asked to call the department's Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.