Fresno police have released new footage yesterday of the white teen who was shot last week by police officers. The video was captured on the body camera of the officer who did the shooting, and was not released to the public until last night:
19-year-old Dylan Noble was shot four times after refusing to comply fully with officers’ demands to keep both hands up after he was pulled over. The officers demanded that Noble “Show both hands!” or he is “going to get shot, man!” but Noble still had one hand behind his back. Noble fell already after the first two shots, as shown in the body-camera video.
According to a recent statement by Police Chief Jerry Dyer, the officers who had shot Noble were actually responding to a report of a white man who was walking around with a rifle in the area.
They had stopped at a red light while searching for the man, and suddenly saw Noble’s black pickup truck speeding. He appeared to have something in his right hand. The officers suspected he might be the man they were looking for. They chased after him and pulled him over, ordering him to put both arms out of the car. Noble only reached out his left hand.
“Get on the ground now!” the officers had shouted at Noble. One of them yelled, “Drop whatever you have in your hand!”
“I f***ing hate my life!” Noble yelled as he was shot twice, still moving as he fell forward to the ground. He was shot twice more until he stopped moving.
After searching Noble’s body and car, the officers found Noble was unarmed.
According to the police chief, Noble was holding a 4-by-4 inch clear plastic container containing what looked like clay and for an unknown reason, had refused to show it to the officers.
“We don’t know what that is,” Dyer said.
Dyer said he had intended for the video to be released by Friday, but had refrained from doing so because of the anti-cop protests following the police shootings of two black men a week later, as well as an ambush attack on five cops in Dallas the night before he had intended to release the video.
“Tensions are high,” Dyer said. “In some cases we are one spark away from a forest fire. And I pray this video doesn’t serve as that spark … This is not a time to become violent.”
The video was shown to Noble’s father and stepfather last week. Noble’s mother, Veronica Nelson, has declined to watch the videos and is filing charges with the city over her son’s death.
“We are pleased to discover from the media that Chief Dyer is belatedly providing the body camera footage to the general public,” Stuart Chandler, Nelson’s attorney, said. Chandler added the officers had used excessive force and there was no reason for a death.
“We’re shocked and appalled that the city of Fresno would continue to defend the actions of its officers. Clearly the only appropriate response is to accept responsibility and commit to changing practices of the police department,” he said.
Darren Noble, Dylan’s father, was “extremely disappointed at the way police handled this shooting and he’s relying on outside agencies for providing him with answers and justice,” said Warren Paboojian, Noble’s attorney.
Paboojian said Noble did not deserve to be pulled over, and would still be alive if the situation was treated like a normal traffic stop.
“You don’t point (a weapon) at an individual for a traffic stop,” he said.
Both of Noble’s parents are planning to file a lawsuit against the city, but Nelson’s attorney believes the two lawsuits will be combined into one trial.
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