Body camera footage of police-involved shooting in Waverly
Agitated man had been hitting a pole and the ground with a cane and holding two knives
Above: Video released by Baltimore Police shows officers shoot and injure a knife-wielding man on Nov. 25 in Waverly. (Baltimore Police Department)
Baltimore Police today released its first body camera footage of a police shooting and it appears to show officers shooting and wounding a man who is agitated, yelling incoherently and holding two knives – but not immediately threatening them or anyone else.
The footage shows the minutes before, during and after the Nov. 25 shooting at the intersection of Greenmount Avenue and 33rd Street in the Waverly neighborhood that left a 48-year-old man injured but still alive. According to police, who have not released the man’s name, he is still at an area hospital.
The shooting remains under investigation and the footage, from two officers’ cameras, is one part of that investigation.
In the 911 call also released by Baltimore Police, a woman caller can be heard saying she works at a salon and wants to report a man in black with two knives and a cane in the area of 3302 Greenmount Avenue.
“There’s a gentleman outside. He’s beating on the pole, beating on the sidewalk. He’s cussing and he’s getting up in people’s face and he has two knives on him and his cane and the people are scared,” the woman says.
The dispatcher asks, “Did he pull a knife out on anyone?”
She answers that “he’s beating this cane against the pole and the ground.”
“We Got Shots Fired”
When the video begins, a group of police are already approaching the man, who is bouncing and dancing around in front of the old Boulevard Theater. Officers, their guns raised, can be heard repeatedly asking him to drop the knives.
Just over a minute into the footage, the first of multiple shot is fired. The man does not appear to be advancing on the police but rather dancing side to side. Soon the man is down on the ground, blood pooling.
“We got shots fired,” someone says.
An officer approaching the man kicks twice toward him, possibly kicking the knife away. Another rolls the man to his side and handcuffs him.
WARNING: Graphic video.
A second video shows an officer approaching the man shouting, “Taser! Taser! Taser!”
There’s a green flash accompanied by multiple shots fired. It’s not clear if the man is struck by the Taser. Seconds pass, them more shots and the man is down on the sidewalk.
This video includes officers’ attempts to conduct CPR to keep him breathing.
“He’s still breathing,” an officer says. “He’s not dead.”
City police have identified the officers who shot the man as Gary D. Brown, a 16-year veteran of the department, and Supreme Q. Jones, who has been with the department for two years. They are on administrative leave while the incident remains under investigation by the State’s Attorney’s office.