A white Louisiana police officer has been arrested for shooting and killing an unarmed black man who was attempting to run away during a domestic call, authorities said.
After reviewing footage from officers’ body cameras, state troopers charged Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler, 23, with negligent homicide within the Feb. 3 death of 43-year-old Alonzo Bagley.
Tyler’s arrest got here the identical day Louisiana State Police released graphic body camera video of the shooting together with audio from the 911 recording reporting the domestic disturbance.
Two officers responded to the disturbance around 10:50 p.m. on Feb. 3 on the Villa Norte Apartments in Shreveport. Within the 911 call, a one who identified herself as Bagley’s wife said her husband was “loaded on something” and threatening her and her daughter after coming home “raged and acting the idiot.”
Tyler and one other unidentified officer arrived on the apartment, where Bagley opened the door holding a glass bottle with brown liquid.
Bagley said that he needed to put away his dog, walked to the back of the apartment onto a balcony, jumped to the bottom outside and fled. The officers gave chase.
Col. Lamar Davis, the superintendent of Louisiana State Police, previously said that as Tyler rounded the corner of the constructing, he spotted Bagley and fired a single shot, which struck the person within the chest.
Within the newly released footage, Bagley might be heard groaning, “Oh God, you shot me,” as he slumps to the bottom together with his arms raised and bleeding profusely.
The officers immediately start administering first aid, with an audibly distressed Tyler repeating the words: “No, no, no, no no, man, no.”
Tyler is then heard sobbing as his colleague, who takes charge of the life-saving measures, tries to reassure him, saying: “you’re good.”
‘No, man! Come on, dude! Stick with me, stick with me, man!” Tyler exclaims while putting pressure on Bagley’s wound to attempt to stop the bleeding.
The opposite officer later instructs Tyler to run to the front of the constructing and wave down the responding paramedics together with his flashlight.
The cop continues tending to Bagley, but it surely’s clear from the recording that he’s becoming increasingly frantic in view of Bagley’s deteriorating condition.
“Hey, take a look at me! Have a look at me! Have a look at me!” the officer screams. “Get up! Get up! Have a look at me!… Hey, respond! Come on!”
After the shooting, Tyler made “multiple statements claiming the suspect got here toward him and he couldn’t see his hands,” in accordance with court documents by state police. Investigators didn’t find any weapons in Bagley’s possession.
Following his arrest, Tyler was released on $25,000 bond pending his arraignment set for April 3.
His attorney, J. Dhu Thompson, spoke to the station KSLA outside the Caddo Parish Courthouse before Tyler was formally charged.
“These are split-second decisions that officers should make,” Thompson said. “You and I take pleasure in hindsight, we are able to sit down in a cushty room with a cup of coffee and review this video.
“That’s not the position that Officer Tyler was in, or some other officer that puts his life on the road on a day-to-day basis and encounters these variety of situations.”
Tyler, who has been on the police force since May 2021, is currently on paid administrative leave, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said Thursday. Smith said, to his knowledge, Tyler had been involved in a single policy violation during which there was “violence to a suspect” but didn’t elaborate further.
If convicted of negligent homicide, Tyler could withstand five years in prison.
Bagley’s members of the family have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Tyler, accusing him of violating the victim’s constitutional rights.
“The lethal force used against Mr. Bagley was unjustified, unreasonable, excessive, and in violation of Mr. Bagley’s rights under the US Structure and the laws of the State of Louisiana,” the lawsuit said, which was filed by Bagley’s wife, mother and stepdaughter.
The family has hired a Louisiana attorney Ronald Haley, who has represented other high-profile clients, including the family of a black motorist who died in 2019 in state police custody.
During a Thursday afternoon press conference with a few of Bagley’s relatives, Haley said the indisputable fact that Bagley fled from police mustn’t equate to a “death sentence.”
“Flight doesn’t mean shoot to kill,” Haley said. “Flight doesn’t mean you’re the judge, jury and executioner, and that’s what happened. That was what happened on this case … and it’s an incident that we see far too often within the state. It’s an incident that we see far too often around this country.”
Throughout the news conference, Bagley’s brother, Xavier Sudds, said he hopes his sibling’s death “means something.”
“I appreciate everybody’s condolences and prayers but none of that compares to the pain that I’m feeling, the pain that my mom is feeling. … That’s going to linger for some time, for a very long time,” Sudds said.
