Body, dashcam video of Arlington officers shooting suspect after he shot at them during chase
By: The Arlington Police Department released body-worn camera and dashboard camera footage on Tuesday from a May 20 incident where Arlington police shot a man during a foot chase after a crash.
The video starts quite calmly. Arlington police offer to take 20-year-old Austin Taylor back to his family’s home after they called 911 following an argument. Officers asked to pat him down, asking, “You don’t have any weapons or anything on you?”
Then, Taylor runs, and the situation quickly begins to escalate. A chase begins, with APD in pursuit.
Arlington Police Chief Al Jones paused the video, highlighting the car Taylor was driving and a bullet hole in the front windshield. There’s a point where police follow him, ending up in the carport of a neighboring home. The scene is loud and chaotic, with the vantage points of two members of APD seen in the video.
You hear one of the officers, breathing heavy, as he’s running toward the carport. Some of the commands you clearly hear in the video include:
“Get out of the truck!”
“Get back! Get back!”
“He has a gun on him!”
“Show me your hands now!”
Chief Jones said Tuesday that Taylor did not fire from the carport at any point before, during or after the moments when APD officers fired multiple rounds. Taylor was shot once in the abdomen and twice in the legs. Officers are seen in the video rendering aid to Taylor.
Jones emphasized that when Taylor ran from the truck he was driving, he is seen in the video carrying a gun. Chief Jones added that a gun was recovered from the carport after the shooting, as well.
Arlington police later found out Taylor fired at the neighboring house before the altercation with its officers. Taylor is now charged with one count of aggravated assault on a public servant, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault family violence and one count of evading.
APD did not release the names of the officers involved in the shooting, who were put on administrative leave. WFAA did learn that one is a sergeant with 29 years on the force, and the other is an officer with 18 years in APD. Both officers did complete mental health training during their service.
No officers were injured during the incident, Arlington police said.