INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD released an edited video showing bodycam footage from a September incident that led to officers shooting and killing a man.
On Sept. 19, around 3 a.m., IMPD was called about a domestic disturbance. The caller was driving and her child was relaying information to dispatchers.
According to police, the woman told police she had left her home with her children after family members called her alerting her that her ex-boyfriend intended to "kill them all." The woman told dispatchers her ex-boyfriend was following her car and had a gun.
The woman got to a gas station, where officers met her, and she pointed out her ex-boyfriend's car.
Police said that ex-boyfriend was 37-year-old Eric Taylor. Officers chased after his car.
NOTE: The video contains graphic language and image. Those wishing to view it can find it here.
When he stopped at Portage Terrace on the south side of Indianapolis, police said Taylor exited his car holding a cellphone and a gun.
"I couldn't tell you if that was a cellphone or a gun in either hand. It was dark, they were Black, so then we have to go on the integrity of what was being said," said Shawn Bennett, a spokesperson for Taylor's family.
Bennett said he's watched the video multiple times, and even when IMPD zooms the video in, he still can't say for certain that Taylor was holding a gun.
On the bodycam video, Taylor can be heard saying, "Just shoot me. Just shoot me."
Officer can then be heard shouting for him to drop his gun.
"He had his hands up, multiple times. Both hands were raised. We both heard, 'Shoot me,'" Bennett said. "I heard, 'What do you think you're going to do, shoot me?'"
The video shows Taylor go into the driver's side of the car, while officers continue to tell him to drop the gun. He then walks to the passenger side.
IMPD enhanced the video to show what they say is a gun in his right hand that Taylor then moves to his left hand. You then see Taylor open the passenger door, raising his right hand in the air. The video zooms in to show what IMPD says is a gun still in Taylor's left hand as he reaches into the passenger side of his car.
Then, you hear a single shot, fired by an IMPD officer, and Taylor can then be seen falling into the car.
IMPD said officers gave Taylor medical aid until medical teams arrived. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Bennett, who said he used to be an EMT, questioned whether officers could have used other techniques that could have led to a different outcome.
"Just as an observer of the video, a lot of yelling. No de-escalation," Bennett said.
The department is investigating the incident, and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing it as well.
Taylor's family previously viewed the bodycam video.
Attorney Stephen Wagner could not reveal what they saw on the video because it hasn't officially been released to the public at that time.
"They have serious questions about what happened," said Wagner, as he stood alongside Taylor's family in the lobby of the City-County Building.
"From a public safety standpoint, I think they could have approached it differently," Bennett said.