Officer Daniel Aguirre of the Birmingham Police Department in Alabama shot a man twice last year, claiming that the suspect pointed a gun at him.
Now newly released dash cam footage refutes that claim.
In fact, authorities refused to release the video for more than a year. It was obtained by AL.com through a confidential source.
Aguirre shot Aubrey Williams after a robbery of a Wells Fargo ATM on April 24, 2014.
The video shows Williams was hands and knees down on the ground when the officer approached, pushing the suspect to the ground. Armed with a gun, the suspect fell back.
That was when Officer Aguirre shot him twice.
However, the video never shows Williams pointing a gun at the officer. But it does show Aguirre kicking Williams’s gun away after the shooting.
The indictments against Williams accuses him of pointing the gun at officers. He was charged with attempted murder on two police officers, and violating the state firearms act.
A second officer on scene had already handcuffed a second suspect who was with Williams.
Additionally, a year after the shooting Aguirre was awarded a Combat Cross Medal for his role in the incident.
But now that the video has been leaked, the department has rescinded that medal, according to Birmingham Police Public Information Officer Lt. Sean Edwards.
Although not shown on the video, Aguirre claims Williams refused verbal commands to drop his weapon. What is also not seen on video is the initial scuffle that broke out when Aguirre first approached Williams.
Emory Anthony, the defense attorney for Williams says:
“There is nothing in the dash-cam video that showed Mr. Williams even pointed a pistol at either of the Birmingham police officers. I just believe the police officer overacted. The dash-cam video exonerates the defendant of any charges of attempted murder, the written statements and one recording of the officer show that they are not telling the truth about the defendant pointing a gun toward each officer”
The only evidence that prosecutors have regarding the attempted murder charges are the video and the written statements by the officers’ upon the shooting.
Prosecutors even offered Williams a plea deal, but he refused to accept it.
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