Body camera video released in fatal Texas police shooting of Joshua Feast

Authorities have released body camera footage of the police shooting of Joshua Feast.

Incident

Feast, 22, was fatally shot on Dec. 9 when a La Marque, TX police officer was attempting to arrest him on outstanding warrants, the La Marque Police Department said.

Following demands from Feasts family, the family’s attorney, and multiple public information requests, body camera video of the incident was released on Monday by the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, which is the agency investigating the incident.

Officer Jose Santos was looking for Feast as part of an investigation into two recent shootings, according to authorities.

Santos found Feast while patrolling at about 11:10 p.m. that night and said he allegedly saw Feast holding a gun.

Joshua Feast body cam video of the incident

Body camera video shows Santos driving and exiting his vehicle as someone leaves the passenger door of another vehicle. Santos appears to open his driver’s side door and fire a shot at Feast as he runs away.

Feast appears to stumble after he runs away and an unidentified object is dropped to the ground, based on the video footage. Police said that the object was a handgun later recovered by officers and turned over to the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office.

Santos chases Feast to the driveway of a nearby residence, where Feast collapses to the ground.

“Show me your hands, show me your hands, show me your hands,” Santos yelled as he walked toward Feast.

Feast was seen on the video rolling around on the ground, appearing to be in pain from his gunshot wound. Santos told Feast to put his arms out to the side, but Feast didn’t move.

“Talk to me, Josh,” Santos said, but there was no response.

Moments later, a crowd started to gather and Santos repeated the call for more units. You can hear a woman screaming and a man yelling at Santos.

“Better get here quick, Step it up. Y’all, back up, back up!” Santos said.

The officer requests medics to the scene.

Feast was transported to a local hospital where he died.

An autopsy of Feast’s body showed he died of a single gunshot wound to the back.

Family attorney responds

Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Feast’s family, called the death “senseless” and alleged that the body camera video released on Monday disputed the sheriff’s claims that Feast pointed a gun. Crump also alleged that members of the sheriff’s office lied to protect Santos.

“Because it is clear that the Sheriff’s department cannot be trusted to evaluate and relay the evidence truthfully and impartially, we demand oversight from the Texas Attorney General and an independent investigation from the Department of Justice,” Crump said.

Santos has been placed on administrative leave from the La Marque Police Department, per the department’s policy, while an investigation into the Feast shooting occurs.