Bodycam video of deputy-involved shooting that killed Roderick Brooks released
HOUSTON - A day after showing the family of Roderick Brooks video of his shooting death at the hands of a sheriff's deputy, the Harris County Sheriff's Office has released the video to the public.
HCSO played the video for Brooks' family in a private meeting on Thursday. They told FOX 26 that they were angry with what they saw.
MORE: Family of man killed in Harris Co. deputy-involved shooting angry after seeing body camera video
The incident took place back on July 8 when officers received a 911 call from a retail store employee in the 2000 block of FM 1960 West, stating a man had stolen items from the business and hit her before running from the business on foot.
Officials said the employee described the suspect, later identified as Brooks, and dispatch alerted patrol deputies to be on the lookout for him.
ORIGINAL STORY: Man who 'took control' of Harris Co. deputy sergeant's taser shot, killed: HCSO
15 minutes after the call was received, Sergeant Garret Hardin, an HCSO veteran, spotted Brooks, and attempted to detain him.
In the video, you can see Hardin chasing after Brooks telling him to, "Come here, dude! Come here!"
That's when, in the video, you can see Brooks running from Hardin through the parking lot of a gas station.
Hardin later caught up with Brooks and told him to "Stop, dude. I'm gonna taze you. Stop! Get on the ground!"
Brooks then attempted to run further from Hardin, and that's when, Hardin fired his taser hitting Brooks.
In the video, you can then see the sergeant take Brooks to the ground.
Brooks can be heard asking Hardin, "Why are you tazing me?"
Then after a few seconds, Brooks told Hardin, "Please get off me, man?" and attempted to get up off the ground. That's when a struggle began between the two men.
The video shows that the sergeant told him to ‘quit,' and during the struggle, you can see Brooks reaching for Hardin's taser that was on the ground near Brooks' head.
Photo of Brooks in possession of HCSO Sergeant's taser during struggle.
The video then goes blurry for a few seconds due to the scuffle, and you can hear Hardin saying, "I'm gonna shoot you. Put that down. I will shoot you!"
As the video comes back, you can quickly see Brooks in possession of Hardin's taser. You can also hear the sound of current popping from the taser as Hardin is continuing to fight with Brooks.
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Within the video, you then lose sight of the taser for a quick second as Hardin has already unholstered his service weapon.
The taser then comes back into view of the officer's body worn camera, and you can see the taser is loose on the ground.
As Hardin is continuing to try and detain Brooks, by pushing his head to the ground, you can quickly see a glimpse of Brooks right-hand near the grip of the taser on the ground in the video.
Photo showing Brooks reach for sergeant's taser again after it was freed briefly from his hand.
Then in the video, the taser moves from the right side of Brooks' head to the left side.
The video shows that as Hardin is one again pushing Brooks head to the ground, the taser is out of view due to the proximity of Brooks' head to the officer's body worn camera. That's when you see Hardin's service weapon came into the field of vision of the camera, and Hardin shoots Brooks in the back.
After firing the shot, the video shows the sergeant called for help, including an ambulance.
Authorities said Brooks was pronounced dead on the scene.
The incident remains under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division, Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. An autopsy is being performed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
The sergeant has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigations.