San Leandro police on Wednesday released video footage from two officers' body-worn cameras during an incident inside a Walmart store in San Leandro on Saturday afternoon in which one of the officers fatally shot a man who was wielding a baseball bat.
In a video message attached to the footage, San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor said one of the officers shot 33-year-old Steven Demarco Taylor at the Walmart at 15555 Hesperian at about 3:12 p.m. on Saturday because Taylor didn't comply with multiple orders to drop the bat and kept advancing toward the officer.
Tudor said the officers responded to the store because a security guard called 911 to report that a man with a baseball bat was threatening employees and customers.
The Police Department said in a message in the video that the names of the two officers have been redacted because threats of violence have been made against him.
The video only identifies the officers as "Officer A" and "Officer B" but police said their names "will ultimately be released in another form."
The footage from the camera of Officer A, who was the first officer to arrive at the scene, shows him engaging with Taylor about 30 seconds after the officer enters the store.
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The footage shows that Officer A tried to grab Taylor's bat but Taylor pulled it away while it was raised above his head.
Officer A drew his service weapon, gave verbal commands to Taylor to drop the bat but Taylor didn't comply so the officer deployed his Taser stun gun twice but the jolts were ineffective, according to the video.
The police summary on the video says Taylor was still advancing toward Officer A and advancing with the baseball bat so the officer fired one round from his service weapon, which struck him in his chest and ultimately killed him.
However, the video appears to show that Taylor was still at least several feet away from Officer A when the officer fired the single shot.
After Taylor was shot blood oozed from his body and he backed away from the officers.
Officer B, who arrived in the middle of the confrontation, deployed his Taser after Taylor was shot and Taylor then fell to the ground.
The officers then handcuffed Taylor, with Officer A ordering him to "give me your hands, man," and then telling him, "We've got fire coming for you, man, and they will take you to the hospital."
A woman at the store screamed, "Oh my God!" after Taylor was shot and other customers also watched the shooting, with some of them recording the incident on their cellphones.
Police said Officer B retrieved a medical bag from his car to provide first aid to Taylor until paramedics arrived.
Tudor said, "Despite life-saving efforts by officers and paramedics Mr. Taylor died at the scene."
Tudor said, "Any time we have an officer-involved shooting it's a matter we take very seriously" and said the shooting is being investigated both by his office and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
Attorney S. Lee Merritt, who has offices in Philadelphia and Dallas, said in a twitter message on Sunday that he has been retained by the family of Taylor, who didn't have a permanent address.
Based on cellphone video footage he had viewed as of Sunday, Merritt wrote, "These officers are not only poorly trained to deal with individuals suffering from a mental health crisis, their intentional and repeated applications of force, despite the absence of a threat, is sufficient evidence for authorities to issue an arrest warrant for the shooting officers."
