Bodycam footage shows glimpses of police standoff that killed Stockton veteran
Roughly three minutes of body camera footage and 911 call recordings Stockton police released Tuesday appears to show the mental distress a 33-year-old veteran was experiencing during a more than 25-minute standoff before officers shot him to death on Jan. 10.
The clips from four different officers' body cameras — ranging from one minute and five seconds to 22 seconds long — also provide glimpses into their efforts to persuade the veteran, Rico Ruiz-Altamirano, to drop his gun before a driver in a white truck interrupts the scene.
Altamirano died on the morning of Jan. 10 after being shot by police near West Hammer Lane and Interstate 5, according to a police spokesman.
At 4:17 a.m. that day, police said, someone called to report that a man was threatening him with a gun near the Hammer Landing shopping center.
Altamirano later called 911 and told police he had a gun, police said.
On Tuesday's emergency call recordings, Altamirano's voice can be heard speaking distraught to a dispatcher.
“Why are you crying? What's going on?” the dispatcher asks Altamirano.
"I need you guys to go do it for me. I can’t do it myself,” Altamirano says.
In another recording, a man can be heard saying Altamirano is holding him hostage at gunpoint.
The first body camera clip starts at about 5:30 a.m., according to its timestamp, and multiple officers can be seen gathered around the front of a smoke shop at the Hammer Landing strip mall with guns drawn.
Altamirano exits the shop, and an officer can be heard saying that Altamirano was wearing a bulletproof vest and his hands were behind his head.
It's unclear from the footage when police first catch sight of Altamirano's gun. At one point, multiple officers can be heard yelling, "I don't want to shoot you."
In another clip, an officer is heard attempting to talk Altamirano down. "We went to the same high school ... Tokay High!" he shouts. "Put it down so we can talk to you.”
About 25 minutes after the first bodycam clip starts, a final clip shows a white truck pulling out from a side alley to the left of the strip mall. A woman's voice can be heard yelling, "hey!"
"Back up your car!" one officer yells.
"He's pointing his gun at the citizen," an officer can be heard saying before seven shots ring out.
Police have said five officers shot Altamirano.
Altamirano struggled with his mental health, including PTSD from serving in Afghanistan, his wife, Samantha Lopez-Altamirano, said.
The police department has not provided Altamirano's family with the full, unedited footage of the shooting, Lopez-Altamirano said Tuesday.
The five officers involved have returned to work, police spokesman Officer Joseph Silva said Tuesday.
"Even though the administrative review is still ongoing, it appears the officers were within policy," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Bodycam shows glimpses of police standoff that killed Stockton veteran
