The Killeen, Texas Police Department released dash-cam footage of an incident in which officers shot and mortally wounded a veteran. The video was finally released on Tuesday after a 17-month delay.
On April 4, 2014, Army veteran Titus Latchison was shot by police officers after charging at them with knives in his hands. Authorities waited until September 22, 2015 to release the video.
The officers were responding to a suicidal call when the incident occurred.
According to Latchison’s family, Titus’s mental health may have played a role in the shooting. Although he was never diagnosed with the illness, his family believed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving three tours in Iraq.
When they arrived at the scene, the police officers tried calming Latchison down, but he was not interested in talking to them.
When he charged the police officers with two knives in his hands, an officer fired twice, hitting him in the shoulder and stomach.
He was then rushed to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, where he underwent surgery.
A week after the shooting, Latchison was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. Latchison was released on bond from the hospital.
KWTX reports that on the video, you can clearly hear the police officers trying to talk Latchison down. At some point, he started throwing knives at the police officers, who kept trying to get him to put the knives down.
The video also showed the officers backing up and ordering Latchison to drop the knives, but he ignored the orders and kept advancing towards them.
As Latchison continued to advance, an officer shot him twice. Latchison never fully recovered from the wounds and died on September 4, 17 months after the incident.
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