Footage of Maryland police 'finger gun' shooting reveals confrontation

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/25/maryland-police-shooting-keith-mcleod-finger-gun

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Video footage of the fatal police shooting of a young black man in Maryland who appeared to point his hand at an officer as if it was a gun was released on Friday evening.

Baltimore County police published surveillance footage of Keith McLeod, an unarmed 19-year-old, being shot dead on Wednesday by a white police officer after he was chased for allegedly trying to buy cough syrup with a fake prescription.

The recording showed officer David Earomirski shooting McLeod three times at close range in a parking lot in Reisterstown after McLeod whipped his pointed right hand round from behind his back towards the officer at the end of the pursuit.

“Any reasonable police officer or citizen encountering this situation would feel that they’re facing imminent harm and or death,” police chief James Johnson said at a press conference. “My police officer had one second to make a life or death decision.”

The footage had no audio track, but Johnson said witnesses told police that Earomirski told McLeod “You don’t want to do this” and the 19-year-old “repeatedly used profanities and screamed and yelled at the officer ‘I’m going to kill you’”.

Earomirski, 31, is a 10-year veteran of the department, according to police, who said the incident was the first time he had been involved in a shooting. He was placed on paid administrative leave.

McLeod came from Washington DC. In a statement on Thursday, police said a pharmacist called 911 when he used a fake prescription to try to buy cough syrup containing promethazine and codeine at the Nature Care pharmacy. Police said the syrup was “often combined with alcohol to produce a ‘high’”.

Police chiefs said they and the Baltimore County state’s attorney had reviewed the footage, which was captured by a camera from a nearby business. Officials identified McLeod and Earomirski earlier in the day on Friday before releasing the footage of the encounter.

The release of the video came shortly after police stated earlier that day that the footage would not be made public, despite calls from the Baltimore County chapter of the NAACP for its release.

“We’re not releasing the video at this time because it’s evidence in an ongoing homicide investigation”, a police spokeswoman told the Baltimore Sun on Friday. She added that video would be released “after the state’s attorney reviews and determines whether the officer’s actions were justifiable”.

McLeod’s family has retained a lawyer, according to the police chief.

Johnson said the footage “stresses the importance of capturing images on film”. The police chief recently announced plans to equip police officers with body cameras starting next year.