Wichita police are releasing surveillance video graphically depicting a firsthand account of police shooting that killed DeJuan Colbert last October.
"It's hard to watch, tough to look at, but it is a very descriptive video and shows the anatomy of an armed robbery happening," said Deputy Chief Tom Stolz. On Friday, a report was released by
Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston saying police did not unlawfully use force on Colbert.
In the video, you can see the Dollar General manager and a female employee closing up the store when he goes to lock one of the doors. A short time later, three suspects entered the store.
Colbert is seen demanding money from the manager.
The other two suspects forced the female employee to the ground in the back of the store. It took dispatchers a few minutes to decipher what exactly was going on from the open-line 911 call made by the manager, but once they did, police responded in less than 60 seconds.
When police entered, you can see Colbert charging at them with a knife, and that's when they opened fire shooting 35 shots total.
"We train officers now to stop violence, we don't train officers to go back out in the parking lot and huddle and who's going to do what, we have citizens in jeopardy we're gonna go make an entry," said Stolz.
They say the confrontation was nearly instant. "There was no chance to strategize for that and the action happened so quickly, the officer entered in just milliseconds. We got in, we had this confrontation, and the officer took an action," added Stolz.
Police say the video release was made available to the media in an effort to be transparent with the public.
"We believe in giving information when we can legally to the media and to the public which explains actions or deeds by our employees," Stolz said.
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"It's hard to watch, tough to look at, but it is a very descriptive video and shows the anatomy of an armed robbery happening," said Deputy Chief Tom Stolz. On Friday, a report was released by
Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston saying police did not unlawfully use force on Colbert.
In the video, you can see the Dollar General manager and a female employee closing up the store when he goes to lock one of the doors. A short time later, three suspects entered the store.
Colbert is seen demanding money from the manager.
The other two suspects forced the female employee to the ground in the back of the store. It took dispatchers a few minutes to decipher what exactly was going on from the open-line 911 call made by the manager, but once they did, police responded in less than 60 seconds.
When police entered, you can see Colbert charging at them with a knife, and that's when they opened fire shooting 35 shots total.
"We train officers now to stop violence, we don't train officers to go back out in the parking lot and huddle and who's going to do what, we have citizens in jeopardy we're gonna go make an entry," said Stolz.
They say the confrontation was nearly instant. "There was no chance to strategize for that and the action happened so quickly, the officer entered in just milliseconds. We got in, we had this confrontation, and the officer took an action," added Stolz.
Police say the video release was made available to the media in an effort to be transparent with the public.
"We believe in giving information when we can legally to the media and to the public which explains actions or deeds by our employees," Stolz said.
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