A police officer shot a man multiple times during an altercation that was captured on video outside a liquor store in San Bernardino on Thursday night.
The man, identified as Mark Matthew Bender Jr., 35, died at a local hospital, Sgt. John Echevarria said. Echevarria said the man had “retrieved a weapon from his pocket” during the struggle.
“When the officer saw that he had a weapon, he defended himself with his firearm,” Echevarria said, adding that detectives found a handgun at the scene.
Police said they recovered a loaded gun they said Bender was holding. A video shows Bender holding an object when police confronted him. On Friday afternoon, the department also released a video showing the altercation from an officer body camera.
Please see the attached and UPDATED Press Release regarding an incident that occurred earlier in San Bernardino. Also, we have included the 9-1-1 audio from the original female caller and the Body Worn Camera video from the solo involved officer. Due to the video sizes, portions will be sent out separately.
Video from the scene, taken by a bystander and obtained by KTLA-TV, does not show the entire encounter. It begins with the officer flipping the man over and onto the sidewalk outside King Tut Liquor on Base Line Street in San Bernardino.
Straddling the man, who is lying facedown, the officer says, “Stop fighting, dude.”
“What are you doing?” the man says, as he shrugs the officer off his back and stands up. He says, “Get off.” When the officer draws his handgun, the man appears to hold a dark object in his hand. The officer then fires four rounds in quick succession, according to the video. It appears the man’s back was turned to the officer when the rounds were fired.
Echevarria said the fatal encounter began around 11 p.m. Thursday, when the officer, who wasn’t identified, responded to a report of a man “jumping on vehicles” in the parking lot of King Tut Liquor in the 200 block of West Base Line Street.
The man, later identified as Bender, didn’t comply with the officer’s commands to stop and tried to enter the store, Echevarria said. When the officer tried to stop him, a struggle ensued, and Bender “was able to physically overpower the officer,” he said.
The officer drew his gun after he saw Bender pull a weapon from his pocket and begin to turn toward him, Echevarria said.
During a news conference Friday morning, police sought to portray Bender as physically intimidating, listing his height and weight — 6 foot 3 inches and 300 pounds — and cataloging what they called Bender’s “lengthy criminal past,” prompting one bystander to remark, “What does that have to do with him being murdered?”
Dlaczego te zwierzęta nigdy nie ogarniają, ze stawianie oporu to pewna śmierć?