LANCASTER, PA- Authorities have released body-cam footage capturing the moments when a suspect ran out of a home with a knife over his head and began chasing after a Lancaster police officer.
In response to the armed suspect running towards the officer with a dangerous weapon, the officer discharged his weapon, killing the armed man.
Authorities released the footage just hours after the unprovoked attack on the officer in an effort to quell the civil unrest as protesters had already began gathering.
This is the bodycam footage of the officer-involved shooting in Lancaster, PA that Black Lives Matter is rioting over. The perpetrator charged at the police officer with a knife over his head with clear intent to strike. pic.twitter.com/xD72TweQK4
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 14, 2020
The knife-wielding suspect has been identified as Ricardo Munoz, 27, of Lancaster. Munoz is the individual in the video footage with the knife over his head running towards the police officer.
According to reports, the incident began at 4:15 p.m. on September 13th when Lancaster police were dispatched to the 300-block of Laurel Street for a report of a domestic disturbance. Police said that the caller reported that Munoz was being aggressive with his mother and trying to force his way into her home.
Under Investigation: Police-Involved Shooting of 27-Year-Old Man who Brandished a Knife https://t.co/1ZBN0MEW0V
— Lancaster DA (@Lancaster_DA) September 14, 2020
Officers responded to the neighborhood and walked towards the front door of the apartment home. A moment later, the front door opened and a woman on the other side began yelling at someone else who was clearly inside of the home.
Without notice, she suddenly tried to get outside of the house by closing the door behind her. As she was doing this, a man could be heard yelling from somewhere inside of the home. In response, the officer said to the woman:
“Get back, get back.”
The woman was barely out of the doorway when the door flew open and Munoz came bursting out of the home with a knife raised above his head, running straight for the officer. The officer tried to run away and distance himself from the armed man, but the knife-wielding attacker had closed the gap quickly.
As he zeroed in on the officer, the officer discharged his firearm, hitting Munoz and causing him to collapse to the ground. When he hit the ground, he dropped his knife onto the pavement. Munoz was pronounced dead at the scene.
Our office is investigation a shooting that happened Sunday afternoon on Laurel Street in Lancaster city.
Police responded to a reported domestic disturbance involving a person with a knife. (1/) pic.twitter.com/8WMmifI0RK— Lancaster DA (@Lancaster_DA) September 13, 2020
Reports confirm that Munoz has as prior criminal history. Last year, he was charged with aggravated assault in connection with a stabbing where he allegedly stabbed three adults and a child. He was released on bail after a preliminary hearing.
In that incident, police said that when they arrived on scene they found Munoz standing on the sidewalk with a knife in his hand. Allegedly, he then held the blade to his own throat when he saw the officers approaching.
What else can an officer do? And what if a trained social worker was sent in stead?
WATCH: Lancaster DA Releases Footage of Police Shooting Armed Suspect that Lead to Riots https://t.co/56Mc6mj6bb
— SofaSpud53 (@sofaspu37) September 14, 2020
Officers used verbal commands to try and get him to drop the knife, but he refused to listen. He attempted to retreat into a home at one point, but was tased and taken into custody on four counts of aggravated assault.
Officers then found three adults and one 16-year-old inside of the residence suffering from multiple slash and stab wounds. All victims survived the stabbing attacks.
Authorities said that the district attorney’s office will investigate the incident to determine whether the use of force was justified. As with all officer-involved shootings, the officer has been placed on leave while the incident is investigated. Lancaster Police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser said in a statement:
“Any loss of life, regardless of how it happens, is devastating. It’s devastating for everybody involved. It’s devastating for our police department, the families, and our community.”
Not surprisingly and without all the relevant information, violent rioters immediately converged on the scene that night. They smashed out the windows of the LPD station, the post office, and multiple private vehicles and patrol cruisers.
Protests erupt in Lancaster, PA after fatal police shooting https://t.co/0fIgA9tnPh via @YouTube
— john m lewis (@johnlewispromo) September 14, 2020
Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams released a statement:
“A police-involved shooting has significant impact on a community, as we are seeing with the large number of individuals gathering in the streets. However, I am asking that all reaction be tempered as the investigation is ongoing.”
‘Such lawless conduct only takes away from those working with the community to address issues worthy of discussion.’
‘Make no mistake, those who cannot peacefully protest and instead resort to violence will be prosecuted and held fully accountable.’
— Lancaster DA (@Lancaster_DA) September 14, 2020
Adams also said:
“We ask that acts of protest remain peaceful as violence and destruction of property will become headlines and serve no purpose for the safety and well-being of our citizens and neighborhoods.”
She added:
“As for the use of ‘chemical agents’ against protesters early Monday, the police department said in a statement that the crowd was given several warnings to disperse before the gas was deployed.”
Police said that the crowd failed to follow the instructions and that harmful items including glass bottles, gallon jugs full with liquid, parts of plastic road barricades, and more had been thrown at the officers.
Here is another article from Law Enforcement Today about the violent BLM protests happening in other parts of the country:
PORTLAND, OR – We’re getting ourselves arrested! That’s the message of panic suddenly in a video circulating the internet (video can be found below).
In it, an unnamed criminal takes to YouTube to order people to stop posting videos of their actions because police are identifying them.
Her claim is that this is threatening their lives (have not heard yet where there have been any police related deaths from the rioting) but in reality, the officers are arresting them as a result of their crimes.
Since the death of George Floyd, the mainstream media and democratic leaders have spread the lie that police in the United States are inherently racist and kill black people more than any other race.
This is a flat out lie that is easily disproven when one looks at the facts, as complied by the Washington Post. Out of 5,573 people killed by police since 2015, (with no facts to allow the reader to determine if the shootings were justified or not), police killed 2,523 white people compared to 1,315 black people.
If their spin would be truthful, those numbers would be reversed.
Now their claim is that black people are killed disproportionately then white people by police.
For this argument, they only take into consideration the population amount of each race and run their math numbers from there. Although, they are able to produce what they want, an appearance of black people being targeted, the truth is the breakdown cannot be ignored.
If you look at the racial break up of the United States, there is no arguing that the majority of people are white, and they also represent the majority of people killed by police.
However, without looking at facts, (if that is even the real reason for the rioting), members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter have taken to the streets nightly in Portland alone, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to the city.
The cowards from Antifa, truly scared of showing their face while they are attacking police and bullying the crowd, along with Black Lives Matter have injured hundreds of officers through their riots, yet, members of the media claims their actions are peaceful.
These groups have openly called for the defunding and abolishment of police nationwide. When they do not get their way, they burn buildings, destroy anything in their path, and hurl objects at police hoping to injure them.
There have been multiple reports of Antifa and Black Lives Matter calling for death and destruction, but recently, the Daily Wire reported that rioters began yelling:
“Kill a cop, save a life,” “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it, burn it down!”
This is the same group, according to the unnamed woman in the video, that says that posting the videos of their crimes places their lives in danger. However, this same group goes off a chant calling for people to “Kill a cop, save a life,” perhaps that means that officers should not be allowed to live.
Apparently Antifa and Black Lives Matter believe that they should be able to destroy buildings, set fires, and injure officers at will without facing any repercussions.
They have come to expect that they will not face charges after an arrest and believe that they are entitled to act the way that they are, like spoiled little children who did not get their way.
The video is absolute proof of that, some self-important child that honestly believes she is doing the right things by committing crimes, thinks she has the ability to demand people stop sharing videos of the crimes on their social media feeds.
She honestly believes that people will listen to her, perhaps she will realize how unimportant she is in the grand scheme of things when she sees that no one, not even her fellow criminals, will be heeding her demands.
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