A newly released body camera video shows officers pleading with a man to drop a knife before fatally shooting him at his DeKalb County condominium.
Matthew Williams, 35, was killed by police Monday after bodycam footage appeared to show him chasing after an officer outside his home with the knife in his hand.
It was an incident where the very premise of the 911 call was flawed, according to the body camera video and information provided by Chief Ramos.
DeKalb Police arrived at a house where a neighbor had reported a prowler.
“What are you doing here? You live here?” police are heard saying to a man inside a house a neighbor claimed was vacant.
Chief Ramos told 11Alive Friday that the man was actually a resident of the house.
“If you don’t live here, man, I’m kindly asking you to leave the property, all right?” an officer tells Williams. As Williams exits down an outside staircase, police said he lunged at an officer with the knife.
An officer fired one shot, but police said Williams fled into the trees surrounding the house. In bodycam video, the officer speculated that she’d shot him in the shoulder.
“Drop the knife, man!” An officer says. “Drop the weapon. Drop the weapon,” says another. Before the incident ends, police are heard ordering him 47 times to drop the weapon.
“We will shoot man, all right? We gave you ample warnings, all right?” says a frustrated officer to Williams.
The video indicates Williams slipped out of view and back into the house. Police returned to the front door. “Please come out boss man. How can I help you?” says a man who identified himself as Sgt. Perry with DeKalb PD.
Another 60 seconds pass, then an officer kicks in the door. But then the door closes from inside.
“I’m begging you. You’re a Black man. I’m a Black man. You don’t have to die today. I don’t want you to die today,” Perry pleads with Williams through the closed door.
WATCH (warning: graphic video):
** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
His family had questioned the police’s account; the lawyer now says this ‘changes the narrative’
Williams’ mother and sisters questioned the police department’s account of events following the fatal shooting and asked investigators to release the bodycam footage so they could see for themselves what happened.
After viewing the video, family attorney Mawuli Davis said it was clear Williams was experiencing a “mental health crisis” during the deadly encounter with police.
