A video that surfaced last week is raising serious questions about the actions of an Arizona, Pinal County Sheriff Deputy. The video appears to show a police officer shooting an unarmed car thief, identified as Manuel Longoria, in the video, even though it appears he has already surrendered.
According to police, Longoria led cops on a 40-minute chase before finally being stopped by tire-puncturing devices. Arizona police cleared the officer involved in shooting Longoria, but video of that police standoff seems to contradict the cops' version of what happened that day.
The video, released on LiveLeak.com, shows the suspect turn his back on the officers before raising both hands into the air. The, just one second later, a single police officer fires two shots, killing Longoria.
One former Arizona Police Officer, Jess Torrez, viewed the video and offered an assessment. "You have multiple police officers on the scene and only one person makes the shot. That tells me that other officers at the scene did not feel there was justification to use deadly physical force. Officers are taught to look at the hands first and foremost. So if his hands are up in the air, he doesn't have anything in them. How do they justify using deadly force?" asked Torrez in comments posted on azcriminallawsexcrimes.com.
Arizona's Pinal County Sheriff's Office says it investigated the shooting and found the officer's use of lethal force justified and the officer/shooter has returned to duty. After the video of the incident made the rounds on the Internet, however, many are questioning the official story.
The officer involved says he say Longoria make a move towards the car and the video does show the suspect turn slightly. But the film also shows Longoria with both hands clearly raised in surrender before the two shots are fired, making it hard for many to accept the shooting was justified. Police said they had fired tasers and beanbags at Longoria and he had allegedly been heard saying that he "wouldn't be taken alive." But no weapons were found in Longoria's car and the footage shows him with two hands in the air.
A justified shooting? A mistake? Or yet another trigger-happy cop? --You decide.
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