Christopher Mitchell death: Christopher Deandre Mitchell officer-involved shooting video has gone viral on social media after Chris was killed in Torrance December 9th, 2018 when officers responded to a call about a stolen vehicle.
The Torrance Police Department officers involved in the shooting of Christoper Deandre Mitchell were Officer Anthony Chavez and Officer Matthew Concannon.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office concluded that both officers acted in lawful self-defense after investigation.
According to reports, Torrance police were on patrol Sunday, Dec. 9, when they were flagged down by a man on Western Avenue and 220th Street. The man said he reported his car stolen two days prior and he had just seen it in the area of Western Avenue and Carson Street.
Police found the vehicle in a Ralph’s grocery store parking lot in the 1700 block of Carson Street. As they approached the vehicle, they were met by Christopher Deandre Mitchell who had a rifle.
That’s when Mitchell was shot.
Police later clarified the alleged rifle was a toy air rifle. The car was later confirmed by investigators as stolen, reports say.
The body cam footage of Christopher Mitchell death was finally released by City of Torrance showing murder of by police — after months of advocacy by #BlackLivesMatter-LA.
Press play to watch the viral Christopher Deandre Mitchell shooting video below:
WARNING: The following video has graphic state sanctioned violence.
We’ve been fighting for justice for #ChristopherMitchell since he was murdered on 12/9/18. Now bodycam confirms what we knew…HE WAS MURDERED BY TORRANCE PD IN COLD BLOOD. Pls share.. @kendrick38 @OsopePatrisse @shaunking @RealDLHughley @VanLathan @chelseahandler @Alyssa_Milano https://t.co/H4jZdWpA4Y
— Melina Abdullah (@DocMellyMel) May 1, 2019
Here is an account by Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office of how Christopher Deandre Mitchell death occurred:
At approximately 7:58 p.m., Chavez approached the Honda on the passenger side and looked through the rear passenger window.
Concannon approached on the driver’s side.
As they approached the Honda, the officers realized that the two front windows were closed. The two rear windows were down slightly. All of the windows, except for the front windshield, were tinted.
Chavez could see Mitchell seated in the driver’s seat. Chavez yelled, “Police!” and told Mitchell to put his hands on the steering wheel.
Initially, Mitchell sat motionless but then moved his hands to the steering wheel as directed. Chavez advised Concannon that the vehicle was occupied and that the driver had tattoos on his face.
While Mitchell was looking towards Chavez, Concannon opened the driver’s door utilizing the exterior handle.
Concannon pushed the door to the furthest most open position which allowed for better illumination of the cabin.
Concannon activated his body worn video while at the driver’s door.
Concannon began to speak with Mitchell, asking him, “What are you doing here, man?”
Mitchell’s hands came off the steering wheel and towards his lap. At this point, Concannon followed the movement of Mitchell’s hands toward his lap and saw what Concannon believed was a firearm.
Concannon drew his service weapon and said, “Don’t move! Don’t move!” In
response, Mitchell raised his hands back up to shoulder level.Mitchell looked at Concannon, apologized twice, and again moved his hands down towards the weapon.
Concannon put away his flashlight and switched to a two-handed firing posture. Concannon told Mitchell, “Get out of the car!”
In the body worn footage, Concannon appeared to move slightly back along the side of the car as he put away his flashlight.
Concannon’s left hand can be seen coming up to brace his firing hand on the service weapon. After the shift to a two-handed firing position, the body worn camera’s view of Mitchell was obstructed by Concannon’s hands.
As a result, Mitchell is not visible on the body worn footage during the three seconds preceding the first shot.
Concannon can be heard on the video repeating the command, “Get out of the car!” more forcefully during this interval.
About one second after repeating that command, the first shot was fired.
Both officers afterwards described seeing a firearm between Mitchell’s legs and his legs pinched together in what appeared to be an effort to conceal the weapon.
Chavez indicated that he saw a gun when Mitchell’s hands went up in response to Concannon.
Per Chavez, Mitchell then leaned forward and moved his hands back down. Concannon stated that Mitchell actually touched the weapon.
Concannon later indicated that he was most fearful that Mitchell would shoot Chavez, as it would have been easier for Mitchell to make that shot. Mitchell also had a black garment bag draped across his legs that may have concealed the weapon (or a portion of the weapon).
Concannon thought that the garment bag was a floor mat; its position on Mitchell’s lap caused Concannon to believe that the firearm had just been retrieved.
In his interview, Concannon stated that Mitchell complied with neither the order “Don’t move!” nor the order “Get out of the car!”
The family of Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, shot dead by Torrance police December 9, 2018 filed a wrongful death claim against the city.
The officers involved in the shooting were exonerated.
So first and foremost let’s start off with some discrepancies that I’m reading here. Officers states they observed Mitchell physically touch the “firearm” yet in the few sentences after they stated that, it’s reported he had a bag or floor mat concealing the firearm, “or portion of the firearm”. Which is it? Was it concealing the firearm or a portion of it?. 2nd in the video you can hear Mitchell apologize to officers 2 times and you can see him raise his hands up to the steering wheel. His hands never came below the steering wheel. This can be proven by three things. First and foremost the video evidence. 2nd the fact that the rifle was fake gives the indication that Mitchell also knew it was fake meaning he never would’ve attempted to shoot someone with it, as the toy was incapable of harming anyone. Why would he reach for a fake weapon? I’ll give the police the benefit of the doubt on one thing, and that’s that it’s almost impossible at times to tell the difference between a real and fake gun in heat of the moment scenarios. This entire situation was blown out of proportion. Police did have the ability to slow things down, instead of resorting straight to deadly force. This is a tragedy. The police officers should not be jailed as again its tough to tell the difference between a real and fake gun but they jumped the gun and shot when it was not needed. They should at minimum be removed from employment and barred from holding a law enforcement job again.
I agree except for the end of your statement. The Police Officer did kill a man and it was in no way self-defence so… The law is quite clear about that. It’s an homicide. Which means the result is the jail.
This makes no sense .. why would the cop turn off his flashlight so he couldn’t see the suspect .. then “think” he saw a weapon ?