An extremely controversial officer involved shooting that occurred on August 9th, 2021, has recently surfaced. On the morning of the 9th, officers from the Tustin Police Department were dispatched to the Saddleback Mobile Lodge located on Williams Street, after a woman reportedly observed a homeless man living in the bushes of a neighboring yard.

In addition, the woman observed the homeless man in possession of a large steak knife. Upon arriving in the area, officers can be observed in the body worn footage, drawing their weapons as they approach the bushes. Shortly after the confrontation began, both officers appear to holster their weapons, and began providing verbal commands in Spanish the male subject to exit the bushes, stop reaching, and to keep his hands where they can see them.

After providing multiple commands, the homeless man emerged from the bushes, but re-entered them shortly after the responding officer attempted to grab ahold of him. During that time, the homeless man obtained what appears to be a broom stick and began exiting the bushes again. As one officer calls out the blunt object, he drew a less lethal taser, while the female officer drew her service weapon. With the suspect exiting the bushes, the male officer deployed his less lethal taser, but it was deemed ineffective.

Within a split second, the female officer followed up by discharging two shots from her service weapon, ultimately neutralizing the suspect. Officers rendered medical aid immediately to the male subject until EMS arrived on scene. After EMS arrived, they transported the man to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. The man was later identified as Luis Manual Garcia.

What do you think about this officer involved shooting. Should lethal force have been utilized at all, or should the female officer have used less lethal force as well? Was the information provided during the 9-1-1 call enough to support evidence of the alleged steak knife? Should Garcia have cooperated more effectively? I have a bunch of questions that will probably be unanswered. Let us know what you think in the comments below.