SandyMalonePasadena, TX – A Pasadena police officer fatally shot a man who pulled a gun on him during a traffic stop on Thursday (video below).
Dashcam and bodycam footage showed that Pasadena Police Officer Marc Adams was conducting traffic enforcement at about 4 p.m. on March 29, when he pulled over a white Nissan Altima in from of the Shell Credit Union, near the intersection of Spooner Street and Southmore Avenue, KPRC reported.
The car didn’t initially pull over after he was signaled by the officer, and instead continued driving six more blocks before stopping, KTRK reported.
In the video, the driver of the Nissan got out of his car as soon as he pulled over, and Officer Adams yelled at him to stay in his vehicle.
The man stood facing the police car, with his right hand concealed behind his body, as the officer repeatedly yelled at him to stay in the vehicle, and then to “show me your hands.”
After the officer’s second command for the driver to show him his hands, the man dropped into a shooting stance, pointed his gun at the police officer, the dashcam video showed.
“He gets out of the vehicle, turns partially so he’s facing back towards the officer. At one point his hand reaches down, his right hand behind his back, and then he produces a weapon, brings it up, both hands in a shooting stance parallel to the ground, pointing it at the officer,” Pasadena Police Department Assistant Chief Josh Bruegger told KTRK. “The officer immediately starts firing, and strikes the suspect.”
It’s not clear in the video if the driver got off any shots off before the officer reacted.
Police told KTRK that Officer Adams fired at the driver at least six times, but said they were not yet able to confirm whether the driver had actually fired at Officer Adams.
A 63-year-old male witness, however, told KTRK that he’d seen the shooting happen, and said that the driver shot at the officer first, and the officer fired back to protect himself.
In the video, the officer took up a position behind the right rear of his own vehicle after firing his initials shots.
Seconds later, there’s movement by the driver’s door of the Nissan, and the officer opened fire again, the video showed.
The officer was not injured in the incident, police said.
“He’s obviously shaken up. Anytime an officer is placed in a position where he has to take somebody’s life it’s a stressful situation,” Chief Bruegger told KPRC. “It’s unfortunate the officer was placed in the position but, when the suspect points a weapon directly at the officer the officer really has no choice but to defend himself.”
“It appears justified to me,” the chief told the San Antonio Express News.
Officer Adams, a 13-year veteran of the police department, was placed on administrative leave pending investigation following the shooting as was protocol for the department.
A Harris County grand jury will ultimately determine whether the 40-year-old police officer did anything criminal, or if the shooting was justified, the San Antonio Express News reported.
Police have not yet identified the driver of the Nissan, KTRK reported. A gun was found on the ground next to the driver at the scene, police said.
Watch dashcam and bodycam video of the incident below. WARNING – Graphic Content: