Montgomery County Police release body cam video from fatal officer-involved shooting
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Montgomery County Police have released the full body-worn camera video from the night a man was shot and killed by officers following a conflict at a Gaithersburg McDonald's.
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Chief Marcus Jones shared the body-cam video from the officer-involved shooting that left 21-year-old Ryan Leroux dead with reporters Tuesday, walking them through the videos.
On July 16, police responded to a call around 9:15 p.m. about a man who wouldn’t pay for his food or leave the drive-thru at the McDonald’s on 18273 Flower Hill Way.
An officer arrived at the scene and approached the white Honda CRV parked in the drive-through lane that Leroux was in.
The officer noticed a gun on the front passenger seat and called for backup. Additional officers arrived, secured the area and evacuated McDonald’s staff.
PREVIOUS STORY: Montgomery County officials continue investigating deadly officer-involved shooting at McDonald's
Chief Jones says officers communicated with Leroux for 30 minutes and a sergeant was able to reach him on his cell phone, but he refused to get out of the car.
The Chief also said Leroux's demeanor was "calm to some degree," but officers did observe alcohol in the car.
The newly released video shines more light on what happened in the moments leading up to shots being fired, but Chief Jones says more information will be released as the investigation continues. Jones said there’s no evidence Leroux shot at officers.
Four officers involved were placed on leave per department protocol.
The Silver Spring Justice Coalition released a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying, in part:
"While the body camera and surveillance footage have not been made available to the public, Ryan’s father, Paul, was able to view some of the footage provided to him by MCPD. Mr. LeRoux said the video did not confirm that his son picked up the gun or pointed it at police. The police chief has said that he too is unable to confirm that Ryan was holding a gun and/or pointing it at officers. As such, the police chief has admitted he is unable to explain why Ryan
was shot multiple times."
FULL STATEMENT FROM SILVER SPRING JUSTICE COALITION
Montgomery County City Council also released a statement Tuesday afternoon, also saying in part:
"The Council takes its oversight role extremely seriously, and we have been working collaboratively with Chief of Police Marcus Jones to ensure that the Leroux family has access to critical information throughout this investigation. We also are committed to ensuring that policies and procedures are reviewed to provide our police officers with the tools they need to successfully deescalate these types of situations. The Council has long advocated for appropriate alternative responses to mental health crises and has added funds to the budget two years in a row to expand the County's Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams. We must work to ensure that behavioral health professionals, with their specialized skill set, are readily available and on call for any potential crisis that arises."
FULL STATEMENT FROM MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL
*NOTE: This video may be disturbing for some viewers.*