SHOCKING footage shows the moment US cops fatally shoot an unarmed 16-year-old in the head as he runs away.
Newly-released video from a surveillance camera shows Sgt. Ray Villalvazo pull his gun on Isiah Murrietta-Golding during a pursuit in Fresno, California in April 2017.
Officers had pulled over Murrietta-Golding at a nearby shopping centre, suspecting him of involvement in a homicide the day before.
Having initially cooperated, Murrietta-Golding ran away when an officer told him to get onto his knees.
Murrietta-Golding had jumped over a fence and was running across the lawn of a daycare centre when Villalvazo shot him in the back of the head.
After the shooting, another officer is heard in bodycam footage saying: “Good shot.”
Villalvazo later claimed he had seen Murrietta-Golding looking over his shoulder while reaching for his waist, and that he had thought Murrietta-Golding was about to draw a gun.
Fresno’s Office of Independent Review (OIR) investigated the case and ruled that the shooting was “within policy”.
“The reasonableness of force is based on the officer making a split second decision after observing the suspect reaching for his waistband area several times during the foot pursuit,” its report said.
But legal analyst Tony Capozzi reviewed the footage and told ABC30: “There’s no way that police officer was in fear of his life.
“That’s a justification for the shooting he committed here.
“Frankly, the killing he did in this particular case.
“There was no reason for him to shoot that gun. None whatsoever.
“It makes me angry just to look at this videotape.”
‘NO RIGHT TO USE LETHAL FORCE’
Stuart Chandler, a lawyer acting for the Murrietta-Golding’s father, said: “Isiah and his brother were considered possible or probable suspects.
“There was not a warrant for their arrest.
“There was no conduct by Isiah that day to ever show that he had a gun – because, of course, he didn’t.
“The law says there has to be an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, which clearly there wasn’t.
“This young man was trying to run away.
“And you can be as critical as you want about how you shouldn’t do that, but it doesn’t give police the right to use lethal force.”
The OIR’s report did recommend a number of policy changes, including putting body cameras on officers in streets violence teams.
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It also said that officers routinely involved in the apprehension of high-risk or violent offenders should be given less-than-lethal devices, such as tasers.
A jury is set to decide next year whether the OIR was right to conclude that Villalvazo was justified in his actions.
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