The Rochester Police Department has released body-worn camera footage depicting the chaotic scene of a December incident on the city's west side in which three officers and a civilian were shot and the 38-year-old suspect, Eric Davis, was killed.
Officers responded to a call at a house on Chili Avenue just after 10 p.m. on Dec. 19. The caller had said his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Davis, was attempting to break into the house. When police responded, they met with the caller and the woman at the front door of the house, who alerted them Davis had been seen near the side window of the house.
The identity of the officers has not been released.
Warning: The police video of the incident (below) might be disturbing to some viewers.
The footage includes four angles of the shooting—three from officers who were shot by Davis and one from an uninjured officer who fired at Davis on nearby Thurston Road. The footage shows officers as they located Davis at the side of the house, prompting a short exchange.
“What’re you doing?” one officer asked.
Davis’s response is unintelligible.
“Okay, turn around,” the officer said.
“For what?” Davis responds.
The officer then places his hand on Davis’s shoulder, at which point he immediately pulls out a .40-caliber handgun and begins firing. Two officers were shot at the house on Chili Avenue.
The original caller also opened fire at the house with a legally registered handgun. While the second shooter is not captured in the video, police said he fired in the direction of an officer at the scene. He is not believed to have hit anyone, but was shot at least twice, with one shot confirmed to be from police. He has since been released from Strong Memorial Hospital. Police said they do not intend to file charges against the man.
“Very, very chaotic scene,” Chief David Smith said. “If we remember that night, I think it was something like 10 degrees out, snow blowing sideways, very dark. Things happen very fast folks, the adrenaline dump gets going, and again, you're talking about a citizen who doesn't necessarily have a lot of training. So, our feeling is that it was just a result of the circumstances.”
The footage from a third officer's camera, taken after the gunfire at the Chili Avenue house, shows the officer telling Davis to "Stop for a second" and "Show me your hands" as he's walking down a sidewalk near the intersection of Thurston Road and Arnett Boulevard. Davis immediately pulls out a gun and shoots the officer, who returns fire.
The fourth officer’s point of view shows her taking cover behind a tree, which was hit by Davis. She was not hit and returned fire.
It’s unclear which officer on Thurston fatally shot Davis.
In total, the four officers fired nine rounds on Chili Avenue and 11 on Thurston Road. Davis fired at least 14 rounds across both locations, and the civilian shooter fired six.
Two of the wounded officers have since been released from Strong Memorial Hospital. The third is continuing treatment for severe injuries.
An investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office is ongoing. The fourth, uninjured officer who fired on Davis is on administrative duty pending the result of that investigation. Both are standard practices in incidents of police shootings.
