Los Angeles police have released raw video showing the moments a teenager was shot to death outside his home while wielding a toy rifle as his mother yelled at officers not to hurt her son.
Agents went to the home of Luis Herrera, 19, in South Los Angeles, before 1:20 p.m. on September 17, after he himself called 911 to allege that his father had been abusing him. him and his mother. That call later turned out to be fake.
Body camera footage shows the moment two uniformed officers approach the house. Before reaching the door, Herrera appears as he is holding what appears to be a black rifle.
The officers retreat to the side of the house and seek shelter in the trash cans. They can be heard yelling, ‘Put that down, put that down’ and ‘Drop that gun.’
After ignoring multiple commands from the officers to drop the apparent weapon, the officers begin shooting at Herrera. The video shows the teen throwing himself to the ground and dropping the gun. He looks like he is still moving in the video, but he is incapacitated.
Upon closer inspection, the rifle in question turned out to be an Airsoft gun, a BB-style toy that fires plastic projectiles.
As officers approach the home, 19-year-old Luis Herrera can be seen coming out of the front of the home clutching what appeared to be a large black rifle.
The officers quickly drew their weapons, demanded that Herrera drop the weapon, and ran to the side of the house for cover.
Teenage victim Luis Herrera, shown here on a Univision newscast, was armed with two Airsoft-style pistols when he was shot to death.
Behind the trash cans, officers opened fire on Herrera, hitting him six times, the victim’s father said.
As he lay on the ground, the officers continued to demand that he drop the gun.
As Herrera lay mortally wounded, officers handcuffed him.
The Airsoft rifle that Herrera wielded, many prominent gun manufacturers allow Airsoft to use their designs on their toys.
In the 911 call, Herrera tells an operator, “My dad is drunk and he started hitting my mom, and I tried to get involved, and now he attacked me.”
He continued: ‘My dad… I’m all bloody because of him.’
The new video released by the LAPD also shows security footage of Herrera’s backyard. That video shows his family’s reaction to the shooting.
The video is brought to you by LAPD spokeswoman Capt. Kelly Muniz. Muniz describes the events by saying, “He did not comply with the officers’ orders and shouldered the rifle and aimed it directly at the officers, resulting in an officer-involved shootout.”
The family’s security camera captures the moment officers arrived at the home while the family was in the backyard.
The new video shows Herrera lying wounded in the front of the house as officers tell his family members to stay behind.
The teen’s father, Vicente Herrera, shown here, described the teen’s behavior as highly unusual on the day he was shot.
The video also shows the officer approaching Herrera’s bloodied body after the shooting and handcuffing him.
When he is turned over, a gun can be seen under his body surrounded by blood. Investigators have said that it was also an Airsoft gun.
A woman can be heard screaming after the shooting: ‘It’s a toy. Why was he robbed? The same woman repeatedly yells throughout the video: ‘That’s my son.’
Herrera’s father, Vicente Herrera, comes out and tells the officers that the rifle was a toy. The officers tell him to go back to the house.
Vincent told the Los Angeles Times the day after his son’s death that the fight started when the teen hit a dog. His father said, “He hit my dog and we argued. I said the dog is like a little child, don’t hit him.”
He went on to describe his son as a quiet and immature child, saying that he enjoyed playing video games. Herrera was due to turn 20 two days before the shooting. Vicente said that the discussion he had with his son was out of place.
He said, ‘I don’t know what went through his mind.’
At the time, Vicente alleged that the responding officers had not ordered his son to drop the gun. He also said that his son was shot six times.
As he lay on the ground, the officers continued to demand that he drop the gun.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics determined that Herrera died at the scene after being shot in the chest.
The police officer who fired the fatal shots has been identified as Police II Luis Navarrete. No officers were injured in the shooting.
He has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the LAPD Force Investigation Division.
Muniz says in the video, “We also do not draw any conclusions about whether the officers acted in accordance with our policies and the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete.”
Airsoft guns have long been a concern for law enforcement officials due to their apparent authenticity. Major firearm manufacturers like Glock and Barretta allow their designs to be replicated for Airsoft versions.
In 2019, three Democratic senators sent letters to the Consumer Product Safety Commission demanding that stricter rules be adopted regarding the sale of toys.
There are no federal laws or regulations regarding the sale of the toys, according to Trace.
Since 2014, Google banned Airsoft gun advertising on its platform, while in 2018, Walmart stopped selling the toys.
