By Thaddeus Miller

Source The Fresno Bee

Body-worn camera video released on Wednesday showed two Fresno police officers fire on an armed man, killing him in June after a family disturbance.

Police said they were called to a home near 11th Street and Burns Avenue about 11:30 a.m. June 5 after a woman said her 42-year-old son was not welcome and would not leave, the video narration says. The south Fresno home near Cedar and Church avenues is just north of Calwa.

The son was later identified as Ricardo Leon. He died at the scene after he was shot in a brief standoff with police.

The mother said she had sought a restraining order against her son, but the paperwork was not complete, according to the audio from her 911 call that was included in the 13-minute, 54-second video released by police Wednesday. She can be seen in the video showing an officer the incomplete paperwork.

“He doesn’t live here. I don’t want him here,” she says to one of the officers.

When the officers arrived, they found Leon in the backyard of the home while holding a silver handgun, police said.

“Don’t come back here,” Leon can be heard saying to the officers as they approached. “Stay back. I’m telling you.”

Officers then began giving Leon orders to show his hands, video shows. He appeared to have one hand behind his back. Police said the officers negotiated with Leon for seven minutes before backing away.

Leon can be heard saying he doesn’t want to go to jail. Much of the conversation is difficult to hear because of the distance between Leon and the officers wearing the cameras, and at least one dog barks throughout the encounter.

The video cuts and then picks back up about 15 minutes later after other officers have arrived on scene, according to the narration. Police said the video shows Leon raise the handgun in his right hand at officers before one fires.

It is difficult to see in the video if Leon raises the handgun though he appears to be moving. The handgun is not clearly visible in any of the body-camera footage, but a still photo taken afterward shows a handgun.

The officer wearing the camera appears to fire seven rounds, and police say in the video another officer fires from the other side of the house. Police also say Leon fired two rounds after he was shot by officers.

The second officer who fired failed to turn on his body camera, police said in the video.

Police said Leon had a Colt Mark IV .45-caliber handgun, which was recovered after officers shot him. Investigators said the gun was found to have two expended casings as well as a live round in the chamber and two more in the magazine, according to the video narration by Fresno Lt. Larry Bowlan.

The officers identified in the video only as Officers #3 and #4 were placed on administrative leave following the fatal shooting, Bowlan confirmed, which is typical of an officer-involved shooting.

The case will be investigated by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Fresno Internal Affairs and the Office of Independent Review, police said in a news release.

The Office of Independent Review has been vacant for a year since the last reviewer retired last August.

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