MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Law enforcement authorities played body camera video at a press conference Tuesday of the fatal officer-involved shooting of a man who was seen with a weapon in his vehicle at a McDonald’s drive-thru and non-compliant with responding officers.
Police initially responded to a call regarding a customer who refused to pay or move his vehicle out of the drive-thru lane. Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones narrated a 28-minute-long compilation of body camera footage excerpts and a recorded phone call between police and the driver, Ryan LeRoux, 21, before the July 16 shooting in Gaithersburg, Fox News reported.
Jones said the first officers to arrive on scene saw a handgun in the front passenger seat. As a result, they called for additional help after LeRoux refused their commands to step out of the vehicle. Hence, a half-hour standoff ensued.
During the stand-off, police placed “stop-sticks” in front of LeRoux’s vehicle, and took cover behind police units and other vehicles. Furthermore, they placed a body camera in the drive-thru window to get a better vantage point of the firearm in his car, according to Jones.
Video played Tuesday showed LeRoux moving inside a stationary vehicle, apparently sitting up from a reclining position, moments before four officers fired at him. Jones said police recovered a loaded Glock 47 from LeRoux’s lap.
A woman from the police department’s emergency command center had spoken to LeRoux via his cellphone. LeRoux said he saw the officers and complied with their commands to raise his hands, Fox reported.
“I can hear them just fine,” he said.
“We’re just trying to help you here,” she told LeRoux, asking him to extend his hands out a window.
Jones said the officers didn’t see LeRoux’s hands up or out the window.
A police sergeant later called LeRoux.
“What’s going on, man?” the sergeant asked. “Hello? He just hung up on me.”
LeRoux did not get a shot off at officers, according to Jones. He later died at an area hospital.
The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office will review LeRoux’s shooting under an agreement with its counterpart in neighboring Montgomery County.
Race has become an issue in the shooting since LeRoux was black and the officer’s are white. As a result, protests have been taking place.
