Multiple videos released by the Sacramento Police Department show the events leading up to and including a fatal shooting which left two officers injured and one suspect dead.
One of the dash cam videos begins with police following a large, black pick-up truck. The make, model and license plate are obscured or not readily visible. The slow-paced pursuit continues for some three minutes or so–before the driver of the pick-up truck stops near a driveway and yucca plant on a residential street.
Police call out to the driver, who has since been identified as 41-year-old Eric Arnold:
Alright, driver! Shut off the engine! Keep your hands up! Drop the keys out the window! Put your hands up where I can see ’em.
Arnold complies with most of the officer’s commands–shutting off the truck’s engine and dropping the keys–until he doesn’t. As the same officer reiterates, “Get your hands up,” Arnold flings open the driver’s side door with his gun blazing, firing six times at the assembled officers in his presence. He doesn’t get far.
The officers return fire–a total of 36 times–striking Arnold 14 times. He attempts to crawl across the street after being felled, but can’t drag himself even an inch beyond the site where he went down.
In the commotion, the audio becomes confusing, punctuated with gunshots. Someone yells, “Fuck,” and someone loudly grunts–possibly the dying suspect or a wounded officer. There’s an inaudible description of the shots fired. Finally, one officer shouts, “I’m hit! I’m hit.”
The dead suspect’s body remains on the ground, alone, for a few minutes as officers eventually swarm around the vehicle to inspect the aftermath and clear the area.
Arnold was being initially sought after due to his possible involvement in a homicide that left two people dead less than a week earlier, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
The two officers injured were later identified as Timothy Martin and Victor Wolfe. Both are expected to fully recover.
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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