Newly released bodycam video from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shows deputies fatally shooting a knife-wielding male who authorities said stabbed a deputy last month in a Lancaster parking lot.
The video was released Tuesday; the incident occurred June 20 after deputies responded to a 911 call, KABC-TV reported.
‘Stop reaching.’
“Hey, I just want to make a report of a guy with some knives, swinging them in public,” the caller told a dispatcher, KABC said, citing an audio recording the sheriff’s department released.
Surveillance video shows three sheriff patrol vehicles arriving at the scene, the station said, adding that authorities said the suspect — identified as Robert Castro — is seen in the video walking away from the deputies and across a parking lot.
“Before Deputy #1’s patrol vehicle came to a stop, Castro turned and rapidly walked in the deputy’s direction,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement, according to KABC. “Castro then ran at Deputy #1, drew a knife, stabbed the deputy, and Deputy #1 discharged his service weapon.”
A second deputy also opened fire and then checked on the other deputy, who was bleeding from a stab wound, authorities said, according to the station.
Investigators said the body camera video shows Castro removing a knife from his pocket before the stabbing, KABC reported.
Following the initial confrontation, the second deputy is heard ordering Castro not to move, the station said.
“When Castro moves his hand, Deputy #2 commands him to ‘Stop reaching,'” the sheriff’s department said, according to KABC, adding that the second deputy then opens fire.
Castro was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the station reported, adding that the injured deputy also was taken to a hospital and treated for the stab wound.
Authorities said Castro was in possession of three knives at the time of the incident, KABC noted.
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Image source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
“Following notification of this incident, DOJ’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team initiated an investigation in accordance with AB1506 mandates,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement last week, KABC reported.
After the state’s Department of Justice investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the department’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review, the station said, citing a news release.
You can view the full sheriff’s department video here.
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