Social media users are left outraged after shocking bodycam footage shows the moment LAPD officers shot a Black man in a drive-by — despite acknowledging moments before firing that he was unarmed.
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Bodycam Captures LAPD Shooting Black Man In A Drive-By After Acknowledging He Was Unarmed
The man’s name is Jermaine Petit and fortunately survived the attack. Petit is a father and an Air Force veteran, who signed up just before the September 11 attacks.
Petit has long struggled with mental illness and PTSD, which he’s being treated for, but has also led him to be arrested 24 times as of February 2019.
But things changed on the evening of July 18, 2022 when a male homeowner called 911 after confronting a man who appeared homeless and was behind their house in the Leimert Park neighborhood.
The homeowner claimed the man, later identified as Petit, refused to leave and had pulled a “pistol” on him. When officers found Petit, they ordered him to “come here.” Instead, he continued to walk away, nervously looking back and mumbling.
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With his gun drawn, an officer followed Petit and repeated “take your hands out of your pockets, bro.” His partner, Officer Daryl Glover, drove ahead to follow Petit.
The first officer soon confirmed that Petit, who was holding a metallic object in his hand, was not carrying a gun. He said, “It’s not a gun, bro.” It was later confirmed that Petit was holding a broken car part. But at the time, the realization did not matter and Glover insisted to yell, “Hey, drop it!” as a second patrol car, driven by LAPD Sgt. Brett Hayhoe, arrived to the scene.
Sgt. Hayhoe, a supervisor to the other two officers, failed to hear the warning that Petit was unarmed. Moments later, the first of three shots were fired from Hayhoe’s car window, as if he were doing a drive-by. LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz has since confirmed that Hayhoe fired first from his vehicle, and that Glover then fired his own weapon.
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Since the release of the new bodycam footage, the LAPD is now facing intense scrutiny on how they not only handle calls involving the mentally ill, but also how they had a breakdown in communication and lapse of judgement, which involved them frantically firing upon an unarmed man.
In addition to social media and civil activists speaking out and condemning the LAPD and its officers, there have since been community meetings scheduled that have gone viral.
One of the meetings was recently cut short after a police captain referred to the object that Petit was carrying as a “nonfunctioning firearm.”
California Congresswoman and mayoral candidate Karen Bass has since called for a “full and transparent” investigation via her Facebook. Meanwhile, police are seeking a misdemeanor charge of possession of an imitation weapon to be filed against Petit.
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