Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook and Chief Will Johnson release dashcam and bodycam video of a traffic stop and gun battle that left an officer injured and a 20-year-old man dead.
Arlington police released dramatic dashcam and bodycam footage Thursday afternoon showing the shootout that left a man dead and an officer injured last Friday.
In the video, the officer can be seen making a traffic stop on the night of Jan. 11 and talking with the occupants of a vehicle stopped near Randol Mill and Fielder roads.
At one point the occupants are asked to exit the vehicle and that's when 20-year-old Tre'Shun Miller can be seen breaking the grasp of an officer and running across the parking lot.
Bodycam video from the two officers who chased Miller was then shown, first of the officer who fatally shot Miller and then of the officer injured in the chase.
Arlington Chief of Police Will Johnson said the video was being released in the spirit of transparency.
"I think it's important for us to maintain a neutral position in terms of us being able to do a thorough investigaton," Johnson said. "We released this body camera and digital evidence at this point in time to address transparency questions within the community, but now we will let investigators complete the thoroughness of the report and subsequently present that for review by the criminal district attorney's office."
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Earlier Thursday Miller's family was given a private viewing of the video. The family requested to see the footage after those in the car with Miller said they saw him get shot, fall to the ground and then return fire -- alleging the officer fired first.
After seeing the footage Thursday morning, Justin Moore, the family's attorney, told NBC 5 what they saw in the video was inconclusive and that "looking at the officer's body camera you can't see who pulled their gun first and who fired shots first."
"We have more questions, of course, but we are going to allow the APD to internally investigate this case and do what they get paid to do," Moore said.
Police released a statement Monday, reiterated by Johnson on Thursday, that the police bodycam video showed their account is correct, that the officer returned fire.
"I think it's pretty clear in the video who shot first, in terms of the sequence of firing, but we will also perform ballistic testing and receive ballistic reports from forensic investigators," Johnson said Thursday. "I think it's clear on the video that the suspect shot first."
Johnson added that there was no evidence that the wounded officer fired his weapon at all.
Earlier this week Johnson tweeted photos of the duty belt his wounded officer wore. They show where a bullet pierced the belt before entering his body. The officer was released from the hospital Monday afternoon, but still has a bullet in his body that will have to be removed later.
Johnson said the investigation into the shooting is active and ongoing and that there is a separate investigation also ongoing by the department's internal affairs division.
