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Mesquite police released footage Friday from a standoff last week where an officer fatally shot a man who they say pointed a shotgun at officers.
Jaime Reyes-Hurtado, 64, was killed early April 22. In a video statement Friday, police released his identity, along with a 911 call, footage of the standoff and footage of a man in the street with a gun.
Mesquite police said officers received a 911 call about 10 p.m. April 21 from the 3700 block of Nabholtz Lane, near Gus Thomasson Road and La Prada Drive, about a shirtless man in the street who was pointing a gun at the caller.
The caller told the dispatcher the man was “in the middle of the road” and “pointing it directly at my car.”
When police arrived, they saw Reyes-Hurtado exit his home with a shotgun and told him to close his door. Her went back inside and the officers heard “multiple sounds of gunfire” inside the home, with a round being fired out a window in the direction of officers, Sgt. Curtis Phillip, a police spokesman, said in the video.
As police waited for a tactical team to arrive, Reyes-Hurtado watched officers through a window while holding the gun, police said.
About 10:45 p.m., tactical officers arrived with an armored vehicle and negotiators attempted to talk to Reyes-Hurtado and “end the conflict safely and peacefully,” Phillip said. He was repeatedly told to go to his front door with his hands up, but throughout the night he made no attempts to communicate with officers and would not turn on his cellphone, police said.
Police said officers got an arrest warrant on charges of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm, along with a search warrant for the home, at 3:25 a.m.
Less than 10 minutes later, police set off flashbangs at the front and back of the house. Crisis negotiators continued telling Reyes-Hurtado to exit the home, and at 3:41 a.m., a “less-lethal baton round” was fired through the bedroom window to “gain his attention and engage in communication,” Phillip said.
A minute after that, Reyes-Hurtado opened the front door and police told him to exit. Police said officers on the ground had their view obstructed by vehicles in the driveway and large shrubs and landscaping.
But the officer in the armored vehicle’s turret could see Reyes-Hurtado pointing the shotgun at the vehicle and officers and fired a round, striking him, police said. Footage from that officer’s body-worn camera is obstructed by the turret, which police said provided armor to the officer.
In the footage, Reyes-Hurtado can be heard wailing after the shot is fired.
Police said that after Reyes-Hurtado was wounded, he attempted “to manipulate and point the weapon” at police, and the officer fired a second shot.
When Reyes-Hurtado did not respond, police approached and gave him first aid. He was taken to a Dallas hospital and pronounced dead about 4:30 a.m.
Investigators later obtained a video of Reyes-Hurtado carrying a gun in the street. They also recovered a single-barrel shotgun from the home’s front porch but did not say whether it was loaded.
No officers were injured.
Police have not identified the officer who shot Reyes-Hurtado or said whether he remains on active duty. He has been with the department about nine years.
Police said an investigation is ongoing and the case will be referred to the Dallas County district attorney’s office for review. An internal affairs investigation will determine whether the officer’s use of force followed department policy.