Video shows moment when Long Beach police fatally shoot man at MacArthur Park
A loaded gun was recovered from the scene following the incident, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
Long Beach police on Friday released a video that shows the moment two officers fatally shot a man who pulled out a gun at MacArthur Park in April.
Police said they responded to the park around 4:24 p.m. on April 17 following reports of a man armed with a gun.
Security camera footage shows officers driving through the park toward a group of people near a bench. Two officers step out of their cars with guns drawn and immediately tell a man, who police say matched the description of the suspect, to take his hands out of his pockets and warn that they will use force if he doesn’t comply.
The man walks backward, away from the officers and repeatedly asks them “Why?” video from each officer’s body-worn camera shows.
The officers’ screams get louder, with one of them yelling “Drop the gun.”
“If you pull out a gun, we will shoot you,” another officer says.
As the man pulls out what appears to be a gun from his jacket pocket, the officers open fire, video shows. The man appears to raise the gun again before an officer fires another round.
One officer immediately called for an ambulance, the video shows.
Police say officers provided aid to the man until Long Beach Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene and took him to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The man was identified as 46-year-old Donald Washington, according to police, who said they recovered a loaded gun from the scene.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and the LBPD will pursue investigations into whether the officers’ actions were within policy.
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