Mesquite police release video of fatal officer-involved shooting during stolen vehicle investigation
MESQUITE, Texas - Mesquite police released video of a deadly police shooting with an armed 19-year-old man last week.
The video shows a silver Hyundai sedan being followed by a Chrysler sedan on Cartwright Road in the early morning hours of December 14.
A few seconds later, a mesquite police vehicle is seen driving behind them.
At the time, the patrol officer did not know the Hyundai was stolen.
The Hyundai and Chrysler turned in to a 7-Eleven. The officer continued driving past the 7-Eleven until a 911 caller, living nearby, told dispatch their silver Hyundai was just stolen.
The officer returned to the 7-Eleven and noticed the driver of the Hyundai was not in the car.
Surveillance shows the driver inside the store with a passenger from the Chrysler.
The officer walked toward the Chrysler.
At that time, the two suspects inside 7-Eleven walked outside together.
"Get on the ground now! All of you," the officer said.
They ran.
The officer turned his attention toward four people inside the Chrysler, especially the driver.
The officer started yelling commands at the driver.
"Stay right there. Shut the car off. Shut the car off now. Shut the car off now. Shut the car off now. Shut the car off now. Stop now. Stop. Do no f****** move. Stop now. Do not move. Do not f****** move," the officer said.
The officer shot and killed the driver as the car went into reverse and then was put back into drive.
Mesquite police kill man during stolen vehicle investigation
Police say a Chrysler sedan was following a stolen car being investigated, and the driver of that vehicle, 19-year-old Peyton Lawrence, was shot after he did not cooperate with the officer's commands.
"Notice that the officer is engaging in verbal commands to the individual, which the person actually ignores. Not once, but several times," Alex Del Carmen explained.
FOX 4 sent the footage to Del Carmen, associate dean of criminology and criminal justice at Tarleton State University.
"Now, if the person would’ve backed away from the officer, in other words, if the person would have put the car in reverse and just backed off, the officer would not have been justified in using a gun. However, when the officer sees that this individual is shifting, in other words, the car is coming towards the officer, at that point, the officer has to rely on the premise of whether or not the officer’s life and the life of others would have been compromised by that person," Del Carmen explained.
In the video, the vehicle continued to roll forward after the driver was shot.
For now, Mesquite PD is choosing to not identify the officer, who is a 17-year veteran.
It also chose not to hold a press conference to answer questions, only releasing a pre-recorded statement.
Lawyer: Mesquite PD shooting was not justified
Body camera video shows a Mesquite police officer opening fire and killing a 19-year-old believed to be inside a stolen car. A criminologist says the video shows that the shooting was justified, but a lawyer for the 19-year-old's family says it shows that he had his hands up and was not a threat.
"We also do not draw any conclusions about whether the officer acted consistently with our policies and the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete," Mesquite PD Sgt. Curtis Phillip said in the video released by police.
Weapons were found in the Chrysler.
The driver who was killed was identified as 19-year-old Payton Lawrence.
A group of protesters were outside the department prior to the video release.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt is representing Lawrence’s family.
"We can say now, definitively, based upon what we saw that there was no justification for the use of the deadly force," Merritt said.
Mesquite PD is conducting a use of force investigation. Once complete, it will be sent to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office for review. The DA’s office is also using its own investigation team.
Police said surveillance video obtained after the incident showed the Hyundai being stolen, and the Chrysler was with it.
Police said Lawrence also had an outstanding aggravated assault warrant at the time of the shooting.