Fullerton man appeared to grab object from waistband before police opened fire, video shows ...Middle East

A 19-year-old man appeared to reach in his waistband and pull out a pellet gun before three Fullerton police officers fired shots at him during a family disturbance last month, according to video released by the Fullerton Police Department Friday, April 25.

Fullerton officers were called to the 700 block of West Orangethorpe Avenue about 11:50 p.m. after a man called and told dispatchers that his brother had wielded a knife during a house party and had swung it at his father.

The man, identified as Pedro Garcia then walked out in front of the house shouting profanities as officers arrived. Officers told Garcia multiple times to put his hands up, but he did not. About a minute later, Garcia appears to continue screaming and possibly arguing with family members at a distance when he suddenly lifts up his white T-shirt and uses his right hand to pull what appeared to be a handgun from his waistband, body-worn video shows.

Garcia appears to toss the pellet gun to the sidewalk right as three officers opened fire with more than a dozen shots, the video shows.

The video appears to partially contradict a claim family members made through attorneys earlier this month that Garcia had his hands up when police opened fire; however, the police gunfire does continue in the seconds after Garcia falls to the ground, another claim made by the family.

Michael Carrillo, who is representing the family, said the claim that Garcia’s hands were up came from eyewitnesses who said they believed his hands were up when the shots were fired. However, he said, what has been released does not justify the fatal shooting.

“Officers that responded to the scene had no information about a pellet gun and the video shows Pedro was suffering a mental health crisis in which he needed help and not to be gunned down,” Carrillo said in a statement Friday, adding that possession of a pellet gun “is not enough to justify the use of deadly force and what can be seen is a young man who tried to throw away what he had on him.”

Carrillo claimed the video was incomplete because it “cuts off and does not show all of the over 20 shots that entered his body.” The attorney Friday was still requesting the entire video to be released.

The exact number of shots fired was not discernable in the video.

The attorneys, in announcing the filing of a claim with the city outside Fullerton City Hall on April 2, called the shooting unjustified, claiming Garcia no longer had the knife and was unarmed when he was shot.

Police have said they initially believed the object in Garcia’s waistband was a Smith & Wesson handgun, prompting the gunfire.

Of the three officers who fired, two used handguns and one used a patrol rifle, Sgt. Ryan O’Neil said in the video. A fourth officer fired a less-than-lethal 40-millimeter sponge round. Moments before Garcia lifted his shirt, another officer warned Garcia that he would send a K9 unit if Garcia didn’t get on the ground.

Garcia had walked a couple houses away from his family members when officers gave their commands, the video shows.

Garcia’s brother, at one point while on the phone with dispatchers, said “He tried to swing the knife at my dad’s face, but my dad dodged him,” later telling the dispatcher Garcia had “started drinking and fighting it out on my dad and my mom.”

As officers arrived, the brother approached them first and at one point said, “Please don’t shoot him.”

Moments later, Garcia emerged yelling and began walking down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.

Officers commanded to see his hands, then to put his hands up and later to turn around after he had stopped walking. Family members told at least one officer that Garcia no longer had the knife.

“We don’t want you to get hurt,” one officer says.

“I don’t want to get hurt either,” Garcia replies.

Garcia can then be heard possibly sobbing while looking at his phone in his left hand. Moments later, he appears to yell something toward the family while moving his arms up and down and then uses his right hand to pull up his shirt and grab the object in his waistband.

Family members have said Garcia graduated from Fullerton High School in 2023 and liked to go out with his friends and family members and watch low-riders.

Carrillo, at the April 2 press conference, said Garcia was working with his stepfather in construction and had a girlfriend. He characterized the party as an argument that “got out of hand. Certainly it didn’t justify shooting him.”

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Fullerton Police Department were investigating the shooting.

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