The Bryan, Texas Police Department released body camera footage this week from a February officer-involved shooting that left a suspect wounded.
The release of the video follows the decision of a Brazos County grand jury not to file any charges against Officer Steven Laughlin after reviewing evidence from the Feb. 12 incident, acocridng to The Bryan-College Station Eagle.
Two videos -- one from the 27-year-old officer's body camera and one from another officer who was on scene -- shows the suspect's behavior before the shooting and ends with ambulance arriving to tend to the man.
Laughlin returned to work six days after the shooting, the same day the man who was shot was released from the hospital.
"It's a sad situation all around, but the officer acted in the way he was trained and exhibited a lot of professionalism," Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske said during a news conference . "I can't pretend to know (the man's) mental state, but it is a tragic event all around."
In the first video, taken from Laughlin's body camera, woman tells the officer that a man she knows has been showing up to her home in the 5300 block of Mallard Drive against her wishes. She then points out that the man is still walking in the yard adjacent to her's.
Laughlin addresses the man, who is seen pacing back and forth, and asks him to remove his hand from his pocket. The man refuses, and for several minutes paces the street.
The officer then draws his gun, shouts the man's name repeatedly and demands he remove his hand from his pocket. In the background, the woman can be heard pleading with the man to cooperate.
Laughlin, who was working with a partner, calls for additional backup as the man continues to pace back and forth with his hand in his pocket.
Laughlin positioned himself behind his patrol vehicle in order to use it as a shield.
"(The man) moves to the driver's side of the patrol vehicle, where he cam be seen mimicking a shooting stance. You'll see his shoulders from and his arms raise ...," Buske told reporters. "You can tell Laughlin feared for his life. If you listen to the pitch of his next verbal commands ... (the man) will bring his right hand from behind his back toward Officer Laughlin, displaying a black object Officer Laughlin perceived to be a firearm."
At about three minutes and 30 seconds into the video, Laughlin tells the man "Don't make me do this," and the man responds "Do it. Come on!"
Laughlin then fires five shots with his handgun, striking the man, who then drops to the ground.
The officer then calls over his radio, "Shots fired! Shots fired! He's got a gun," and screams at the woman to run into her house for safety.
A follow-up investigation found that the item the suspect had in his pocket was a cellphone.
"Nobody joins a police department to have to shoot somebody, and no police officer wants to do that," Buske said. "Nobody wanted to have happen what happened there. That night, as I said before, was one of the most common calls we make. You never expect it to turn into something like it did turn into, but that's kind of the nature of our job; sometimes things turn on a dime."
