Body camera footage recently released online shows a Louisiana police officer shoot a man who’d seized the officer’s baton and choked him with it during a drawn-out hand-to-hand struggle on Thanksgiving Day.
The officer responded to a report of a man laying in the road on Nov. 24 in Alexandria, Louisiana. His encounter with an aggravated suspect, 34-year-old Jason Shackleford, escalated into a fist fight. After being briefly detained, the suspect gained the upper hand and laughed as he choked the officer, who fired multiple shots to gain back control.
Louisiana State Police released footage of the incident on Jan. 3 in a “critical incident briefing” that includes video from the Alexandria Police Department officer’s body and dashboard camera, as well as 9/11 emergency calls relating to the incident.
LSP disabled the video from being embedded in this story, but it can be viewed on YouTube.
The video appears to show Shackleford gaining control over the officer about two minutes after being detained on the ground. Shackleford tauntingly laughs as the officer shouts, “Get here, get here.” The police officer shoots his gun four times, which immediately triggers screaming and yelling in the area.
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While holding the officer to the ground, Shackleford continues taunting the officer, saying, “All you’re going to do is lose your position,” and, “My grandpa’s the governor, bro.” He also claims the officer has already shot him twice.
The officer shoots once more, and Shackleford appears to shout in pain. Back-up arrives a few seconds later – about four minutes after the fight first began and almost two minutes after Shackleford got the baton.
Both Shackleford and the officer, whose name was not released, were transported to a local hospital for treatment. As of Jan. 3, Shackleford was in stable condition and the officer had been released from the hospital, according to LSP.
LSP detectives are leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
