The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday released body camera footage showing an officer chasing a suspect and shouting that he will shoot him – then firing at the man, who was not injured.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting, which occurred around 7:10 p.m. May 12 on the 1700 block of 55th Street in South Los Angeles, according to the LAPD.
Two uniformed Metropolitan Division officers were “conducting crime suppression” when they spotted two men suspected of involvement in “gang activity,” according to an LAPD news release issued May 21.
When the officers tried to contact the men, one of them ran off with a gun in his hand, according to LAPD. The officers chased the man, later identified as 20-year-old Kevin Palencia, and Officer Joshua Parker fired his service weapon.
Palencia was not struck.
The nearly nine-minute video , which includes private surveillance footage as well as a officers’ body camera recording, is the second such video released under a new LAPD policy. Like the previous video, it is heavily edited and narrated.
In the video, LAPD Cmrd. Alan Hamilton says officers became suspicious after seeing the man “exhibiting activity consistent with possession of a firearm.” A freeze-frame shows Palencia appearing to hold a handgun.
He later threw the gun to the ground, but officers didn’t see that, and Parker believed Palencia still had a gun when he chased the suspect, the commander says.
A second suspect picked up the firearm and ran away; he was later arrested and charged, Hamilton says.
The video shows Parker shouting, as he chases the suspect, “Don’t f—ing move, I’m going to get you, motherf—er. … I’m going to f—ing shoot you.”
The “propriety” of Parker’s language will be reviewed, Hamilton said.
He fires on the suspect, who then collapses by a sidewalk. Palencia was taken into custody and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, Hamilton said. His handgun was not found, but a loaded magazine was recovered at the scene, according to LAPD.
No injuries were sustained by any officers.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the LAPD at 213-486-5230 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
KTLA’s Melissa Pamer contributed to this article.
