Mesquite Police released videos Thursday showing a police shooting that killed a 19-year-old man earlier this month.
Officials with the department said they were sharing surveillance video and body camera video in the interest of transparency in their investigation into the shooting. The disturbing video is embedded below and should be watched with caution.
According to police, on Dec. 14 at about 3 a.m., a Mesquite officer was on patrol when he spotted two vehicles enter a 7-Eleven parking lot. A short time later, a car matching the description of one of the vehicles, a Hyundai, was reported stolen.
The officer returned to the 7-Eleven and pulled up behind the Hyundai, which was unoccupied at a gas pump.
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The officer then walked over to the other car, a Chrysler, which was also parked at a fuel pump. At that moment, two people walked out of the convenience store, identified by police as a passenger in the Chrysler and the driver of the Hyundai. When the officer ordered them to stop and get onto the ground, they both ran away.
As the officer stood directly in front of the Chrysler, which was stopped at the pump, the officer could be heard yelling, "Do not move, I will f____ng kill you."
Police said the driver of the Chrysler put his foot on the brake, put the car in reverse, and began to back up, ignoring commands from the officer to turn the engine off and to stop. As the car moved, the officer continued placing himself in front of the car. The driver stopped, pulled forward slightly, and then back again to turn away from the pump.
From the officer's body camera, it appears as though the driver of the car may have been arguing with the passengers in the vehicle as he slowly moved the car backward and forward.
Mesquite Police said the officer gave 12 commands for the driver to stop. In the video, as the driver began moving slowly forward the officer fired three shots.
As the car rolled past, the officer opened the front passenger door and yelled at the occupants to not move and to stay in the car. The officer continued giving the passengers commands to stay in the vehicle as it rolled away uncontrolled toward a nearby curb where it finally came to rest.
Police said three people in the vehicle were detained and that the driver was pulled from the vehicle and given first aid. From the time of the shooting until first aid began was 3 minutes and 25 seconds, police said. A crew from a Mesquite Fire Department ambulance pronounced the driver dead at the scene.
Inside the Chrysler, police said they found multiple weapons including a .45-caliber handgun with two rounds in the driver's seat floorboard. In the front passenger floorboard, police recovered a 762 mini Draco with 23 rounds. In the rear driver's side floorboard police recovered a .40-caliber AR pistol with five rounds. In the rear passenger side floorboard, police recovered a .45-caliber Springfield XDS with two rounds. Police did not reveal any other information about the guns or who owned them.
Police said the driver of the Chrysler killed by the officer was identified as 19-year-old Payton Lawrence. Police said Lawrence had an outstanding warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
No one else in the vehicle was injured. Two of the people detained were questioned and released. A third person detained was arrested on an outstanding warrant, police said, though they didn't detail the nature of the warrant. Police said the two people who ran from the convenience store were not located.
Mesquite Police showed the videos of the shooting to Lawrence's father earlier this week. He wanted to know why the officer didn't wait for backup before confronting the group.
"They want us to be patient and wait but if the officer would have waited Payton would have been here," said Stephen Lawrence.
Mesquite Police are not yet releasing the name of the officer involved in the shooting and would only say that he is a 17-year veteran of the department.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting and the officer's actions, which is standard procedure for a shooting involving a police officer. The department's internal affairs unit is also investigating the shooting.
