DashCam Video of Controversial Shooting
It took four seconds for seven rounds to be fired -- five in quick
succession, then a brief pause before the final two were discharged by
the then-Officer Bill Cross.
Another six seconds pass before Cross calls for medics.
It's just 1 minute and 45 seconds between the time Cross makes initial
contact with Johnnie Walton Harris Jr. until the last shot pierces his
body.
While the actual shooting isn't caught by the two video cameras in
Cross' patrol car -- one on the dashboard, the other in the back -- a
brief conversation, screaming, shots fired and a mother's cries can be
heard.
The 14-year veteran resigned from the Bryan Police Department on July 18
-- less than 24 hours before Chief Eric Buske was to make public the
findings of an internal investigation into the shooting.
His resignation, because of civil service statues voted into use by
Bryan residents in 1979, effectively sealed the results of that internal
inquiry.
Cross was on patrol just after 10 a.m. May 6 when he responded to a call
of a suspicious person near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr.
Street and Texas Avenue.
As can be seen and heard on the video, Cross approaches 20-year-old
Harris and begins basic questioning, including asking why he is in the
area.
The discussion ends about 20 seconds later and a scuffle between Harris and Cross begins.
The day of the shooting and throughout the inquiry, police said Cross opened fire after Harris reached for his firearm.
That's not visible from the in-car video.
At one point, Cross said to Harris, "I'll shoot you," and Harris
responded by pulling his jacket open, making a wide target of his chest
before sprinting across the street.
Harris' mother, Janice Walton, and grandmother, Betty Sims, pulled up behind the patrol car right after the struggle began.
The chase that lasts about 40 seconds, ends after Cross fires seven
rounds, hitting Harris and 18-year-old Juan Garcia, a construction
worker who was in the area and hit by a stray bullet.
The video does capture Cross running after Harris with his firearm in
the ready position and a sliver of the start of the shooting, but Harris
and the construction worker are not visible.
One second before firing, Harris' mother can be heard saying, "Y'all
don't have to shoot him, sir," as her son runs to the officer's patrol
car.
Sims saw the video earlier this week, along with her daughter, who was not available for comment Thursday.
"He didn't have to shoot him," she said of her unarmed grandson. "He
used excessive force and I don't think he got what he deserved -- he
deserved to get some time like anybody else would."
District Attorney Bill Turner said his office will respect the decision
of the grand jury and has no plans to again present the case to a
different panel.
During his service as district attorney, Turner said only a handful of
cases, possibly as few as three, have been presented to a second grand
jury after the first declined to indict.
"Our office has taken the position that when we find we have presented a
complete and thorough investigation, we will respect their decision,"
he said. "This is not [an instance] where I would recommend a second
grand jury take a look at it."
There's no legal limit on the number of times a case can be presented to
a grand jury. A grand jury also is free to investigate any matter that
is brought to its attention, Turner said.
Harris is recovering slowly from the gunshot wounds that left him in critical condition for more than a week.
"He's had two surgeries on his arm," Sims said. "And he's doing OK, but
full use of that hand -- I don't think he'll ever have that again."
Garcia also was hospitalized in critical condition for days after the shooting.
"I haven't rested right since then -- I'm on sleeping pills," Sims said.
"Every time I go to Bryan and cross those tracks, I think about it. If
it would have been me shooting his child down in the street like a dog, I
guarantee he'd see to it I didn't get away with it."
Sims said her daughter, Harris' mother, has been in contact with an
attorney, though it remained unclear late Thursday night if a civil suit
had been filed by the family.
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It took four seconds for seven rounds to be fired -- five in quick
succession, then a brief pause before the final two were discharged by
the then-Officer Bill Cross.
Another six seconds pass before Cross calls for medics.
It's just 1 minute and 45 seconds between the time Cross makes initial
contact with Johnnie Walton Harris Jr. until the last shot pierces his
body.
While the actual shooting isn't caught by the two video cameras in
Cross' patrol car -- one on the dashboard, the other in the back -- a
brief conversation, screaming, shots fired and a mother's cries can be
heard.
The 14-year veteran resigned from the Bryan Police Department on July 18
-- less than 24 hours before Chief Eric Buske was to make public the
findings of an internal investigation into the shooting.
His resignation, because of civil service statues voted into use by
Bryan residents in 1979, effectively sealed the results of that internal
inquiry.
Cross was on patrol just after 10 a.m. May 6 when he responded to a call
of a suspicious person near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr.
Street and Texas Avenue.
As can be seen and heard on the video, Cross approaches 20-year-old
Harris and begins basic questioning, including asking why he is in the
area.
The discussion ends about 20 seconds later and a scuffle between Harris and Cross begins.
The day of the shooting and throughout the inquiry, police said Cross opened fire after Harris reached for his firearm.
That's not visible from the in-car video.
At one point, Cross said to Harris, "I'll shoot you," and Harris
responded by pulling his jacket open, making a wide target of his chest
before sprinting across the street.
Harris' mother, Janice Walton, and grandmother, Betty Sims, pulled up behind the patrol car right after the struggle began.
The chase that lasts about 40 seconds, ends after Cross fires seven
rounds, hitting Harris and 18-year-old Juan Garcia, a construction
worker who was in the area and hit by a stray bullet.
The video does capture Cross running after Harris with his firearm in
the ready position and a sliver of the start of the shooting, but Harris
and the construction worker are not visible.
One second before firing, Harris' mother can be heard saying, "Y'all
don't have to shoot him, sir," as her son runs to the officer's patrol
car.
Sims saw the video earlier this week, along with her daughter, who was not available for comment Thursday.
"He didn't have to shoot him," she said of her unarmed grandson. "He
used excessive force and I don't think he got what he deserved -- he
deserved to get some time like anybody else would."
District Attorney Bill Turner said his office will respect the decision
of the grand jury and has no plans to again present the case to a
different panel.
During his service as district attorney, Turner said only a handful of
cases, possibly as few as three, have been presented to a second grand
jury after the first declined to indict.
"Our office has taken the position that when we find we have presented a
complete and thorough investigation, we will respect their decision,"
he said. "This is not [an instance] where I would recommend a second
grand jury take a look at it."
There's no legal limit on the number of times a case can be presented to
a grand jury. A grand jury also is free to investigate any matter that
is brought to its attention, Turner said.
Harris is recovering slowly from the gunshot wounds that left him in critical condition for more than a week.
"He's had two surgeries on his arm," Sims said. "And he's doing OK, but
full use of that hand -- I don't think he'll ever have that again."
Garcia also was hospitalized in critical condition for days after the shooting.
"I haven't rested right since then -- I'm on sleeping pills," Sims said.
"Every time I go to Bryan and cross those tracks, I think about it. If
it would have been me shooting his child down in the street like a dog, I
guarantee he'd see to it I didn't get away with it."
Sims said her daughter, Harris' mother, has been in contact with an
attorney, though it remained unclear late Thursday night if a civil suit
had been filed by the family.
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large video
http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2_player_files/mp55/player.swf?config=http://www.liveleak.com/player?a=config%26item_token=a14_1319818313%26embed=1
