Chilling bodycam footage has been released concerning the Reno police killing of Michael J. Johnson, 27, who ran toward an armed police officer with a chain held above his head on the Wells Avenue bridge, leading to him being shot multiple times and killed on the afternoon of February 3.
This followed a long exchange where police were trying to get him off the bridge, while he was walking slowly and talking back to officers, saying he was on his way, according to a Reno PD critical incident video released on YouTube.
The man appears not to want to deal with police, who then approach him from multiple directions with different groups, asking him repeatedly to take his hands out of his pockets and when he doesn’t do so, get closer to him before he approaches one of the armed officers with a chain, before being shot multiple times seemingly from several directions and killed.
At that point, the road was already closed in both directions, raising questions as to why officers did not wait for more qualified people to deal with someone who was hanging out on a bridge, or why they shot to kill.
The YouTube video released today indicates “one of the discharged rounds” shot by police “struck an officer in the vest. That officer was treated at a local hospital and released.”
“I can’t hear you,” a female officer is heard saying to a man on the Wells Avenue bridge who says “I don’t need no help,” at around 4:04 p.m. when the bodycam footage begins with faces of officers always hidden.
He says politely “my fault” and that he’s going to the park, after the officer said people were worried that he had been sitting on the edge.
She then says “can we walk off the bridge, that way people don’t keep worrying about you." Another female officer said they had received three calls from people worrying he was going to jump off the bridge.
The video resumes at 4:07 with him in the same location and the female officers still trying to get him to leave that part of the bridge with cars still going by.
A female officer says they’ll have to shut down the road until they know he’s safe, while he sits on the edge. “Because right now you’re not safe to me,” she says.
A title card says southbound lanes were then closed to protect both the “suspect” as he is called at this point and motorists traveling along the bridge, as it’s a vehicle-only roadway. He is still sitting comfortably against the edge.
He remains on the bridge, with a title card now indicating “the suspect was illegally standing in the middle of the road.” He then asks at 4:11 if he can walk to the other side of the bridge, but is told “nope you can’t do that.”
Also at 4:11 an officer says MOST the Mobile Outreach Safety Team is en route.
At 4:15 with the man no longer in the same location and out of the body cam’s close view a male officer can be heard saying “Oh he was the guy that pulled the knife out.” A female officer responds saying “Oh.”
At 4:16, both sides of the road appear to no longer have any traffic going through and a male officer says “obviously we don’t want you to get hit in the middle of the road.”
The man seems to say “just stay right there,” with the male officer a good distance away. “So this isn’t a sidewalk dude,” the male officer says when the man points to the shoulder saying he will walk there, even as there are no cars going through anymore.
A female officer is heard saying he has a little pocket knife. “Hey what’s up brother, can we have you drop your pocket knife,” the man is asked by a male officer who is putting gloves on at 4:17.
The man responds no while walking in circles at a distance from him with other officers approaching him from the other direction.
A male officer asks him again to drop the pocket knife while still at a distance but approaching him. He responds he has no pocket knife and that he’s on his way, putting his hands back in his pockets.
A male officer presses him to take his hands out of his pockets, but he says no. “I’m about to be on my way,” he repeats.
“Don’t walk behind me bro,” he now says as officers walk towards him from multiple directions. As they approach he makes a body motion towards them, which a caption calls a lunge.
“Don’t put your hands in your pockets,” a male officer says as officers get closer and closer to him from two directions, with no cars in sight and the road totally closed.
He backs away and the officer takes out a gun.
At that point the man takes out a chain and runs toward an officer with a gun already out. Multiple shots are fired at 4:18 p.m. right into the man, who crumples to the ground. The officer says “we need hands teams.”
Another view has another officer coming from the other direction saying get your hands out of your pockets as well. That officer appears to fire into the man as well.
A graphic indicates paramedics arrived on the scene and declared the suspect deceased. Another graphic says “one of the discharged rounds struck an officer in the vest.”
The video concludes indicating the investigation has been turned over to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Feel free to share this story on below social media:
