Warning: this is graphic material. Be thoughtful about how or whether you consume it.
A grand jury no-billed the Allen cop who shot and killed the gunman at the Allen Premium Outlets on May 6. That means the jury determined the officer was justified in using lethal force. So the Allen Police Department released the body cam video, posting it to YouTube.
I know that I’ve seen too many police body cam videos and thought, “How could he have done that?” This video overwhelmed me with that same question—but with a sense of awe and admiration rather than anger. This unnamed Allen cop performed his job with stunning professionalism.
The video begins with him talking to a family in the parking lot. “Make sure y’all be good,” he says, “and make sure you wear your seatbelts when Mommy’s driving, OK?”
Then the shots begin, and as the mother shields her children, the cop radios, “I think we have shots fired at the outlet mall. Got people running.”
Within seconds, he pulls his AR-15 from his cruiser and sprints toward the sound of gunfire, shouting at shoppers, “Go! Go! Go! Keep moving! Get out of here!”
I’m not sure why, but last month when I read reports about this cop taking down the gunman, I assumed the cop was close to the shooting when it began. Not so. He had to cover a lot of ground to engage the gunman, sprinting almost the entire time, raising his weapon at times, struggling to control his breathing and deal with the adrenaline, determining in a heartbeat whether a target is friend or foe.
He slows. Sirens sound in the distance. Then more gunshots. “I’m on foot,” he says on the radio. “I need everybody I got!” Then more shots. He radios, “I’m passing injured.”
As he closes in on the shooter, rounding a corner, you can hear the outdoor speakers playing happy mall music. “I’m by Tommy Hilfiger,” he radios. “I don’t know where he’s at.”
Now the gunfire is louder, closer, echoing through a covered walkway. He raises his weapon and shoots perhaps a dozen times in three volleys, over about 15 seconds, using a brick pillar for cover. “Shots fired by police! I got him down!”
Then he fires twice more. His target could be 40 yards or more away, unseen in the video. “Drop the gun!” the cop yells.
Now he’s really gasping for air and approaches the downed gunman, shouting at shoppers: “Get away from there! Get away from there! Get away!” He radios, “I’m moving up on him. Who’s this behind me? Watch your fire! Watch your fire! I got him down!”
Another cop converges with him on the downed gunman. “Goddamn, bro!” he tells the other cop. “Got him, bro!” And he lets out an exhale that, to me, sounds like he just realized he’s going home alive. “Bro! You good?”
“You good,” the other cop says.
“We got him.”
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