New footage shows Texas police open fire after suspect raises arms (VIDEO)
New footage of a fatal police shooting in Texas has been released. The nearly hour-long video shows the 41-year-old suspect, Gilbert Flores, surrendering with his arms up as officers open fire and kill him.
Flores was shot and killed on August 28. The first video of the incident, filmed at some distance, emerged a few days later. In it, Flores appears to raise his hands as Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez approach. One of the suspect's hands is obscured by a utility pole, however.
The second footage, shot by Flores’ neighbors from their house nearby, clearly shows the deputies shoot Flores after he raises his hands above his head in surrender.
“Oh God, they shot him? What the f***! Why did they shoot him?” Flores' shocked female neighbor is heard asking in the video.
Flores is first seen yelling at police from the entrance of his home. Officers were answering his mother's 911 call reporting domestic violence. “He's got a knife in his hand,” whispers Flores' male neighbor, filming the confrontation.
Flores can be seen holding an object. “He wants to be shot,” the woman adds. “He's provoking,” says the man.
Flores is seen walking toward the cops with two fold-up chairs. The man shooting the video says that Flores used the chairs to shield himself from getting tased by the cops. Holding the chairs, Flores picks up the useless stun gun and throws it to the side.
An inaudible conversation goes on between Flores and the deputies for several minutes.
“I think he wants to die,” the neighbor says in the video.
Both witnesses are heard discussing whether backup officers have been called to the scene and, if so, why it's taking them so long to arrive.
Flores picks up his chairs and brings them back to his door. He then runs toward the cop car, and the man behind the camera says Flores has got a knife.
“Oh, he's gone in the cop car!” the man says.
Shortly after, Flores walks toward the deputies with his hands out, waving them to his chest.
The tension mounts as Flores walks behind the patrol car again and is obscured for a moment. He then walks toward the officers and puts his hands up. There does not appear to be a knife in his hand, the video shows.
Only a second later two shots are fired and Flores falls to the ground.
Flores' family is suing the county sheriff's office and two deputies in federal court for unspecified compensation, alleging that Flores' civil rights were violated. In civil court filings, Flores' family alleged Bexar County Sheriff's deputies Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez used excessive force against him.
County officials have denied the allegations.
Last week a Texas grand jury decided not to indict sheriff's deputies in the fatal shooting of the domestic-violence suspect. In the 911 call, released on Friday, Flores' mother tells police her son has allegedly “gone crazy” and is “beating up his wife and she's bleeding.”
“Is he black, white of Hispanic [ethnicity]?” the dispatcher asks the woman. “Hispanic,” she replies.
Flores’ mother tells the dispatcher that he hit his wife and the newborn baby. “She has a black eye. The baby,” the mother says.
“What the - you're going to have to kill me. You're going to have to kill me. It's my time to go,” Flores is then heard saying. “I got a knife and I’m gonna [commit] suicide by cop. So if you bring a SWAT team or whoever, [I’m] gonna get ready to pull the trigger because I'm gonna die today,” he adds.
