Texas Police Release Bodycam Footage Of Patrick Warren's Killing
Officer Reynaldo Contreras fired multiple shots as Patrick Warren's family begged him not to.
January 30, 2021 at 1:44 am
The Killeen Police Department has released the raw bodycam video of Officer Reynaldo Contreras shooting and killing Patrick Warren Sr., according to The Killeen Daily Herald.
The disturbing video shows the 52-year-old's wife pleading with Contreras not to open fire but he does anyway, shooting the father three times in the chest on Jan. 10. Warren was transported to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center where he later died.
Both the police department and local news outlet KXXV released blurred versions of the video, while the Killeen Daily Herald released an unblurred version.
Warning: The following video is graphic and may be triggering as it shows the shooting death of Warren.
After Contreras fires his taser at Warren, his wife comes outside and asks the officer not to kill the man repeatedly. Instead of firing the taser again, Contreras pulls out his firearm.
"No! I told you don't use a gun," someone yells in the video after Warren was shot.
As Warren bleeds on the pavement, Contreras stood over him and said the "Lord's Prayer," even after other officers told him to go back to his car as they tried to save his life.
"Patrick was a loving husband, father, and devoted man of God. As we deal with the pain of his sudden loss we are asking the community to join us in honoring his name and demanding justice," Warren's wife, Bobbie said in a statement.
Warren's family called 911 and asked for a mental health deputy to be sent to the home, as Blavity previously reported.
Just one day earlier, the family made a similar call and a Bell County mental health deputy was dispatched to the residence. Warren spoke with the deputy and it went well, leading to a visit to a hospital. Warren did not want to stay at the hospital so he went home.
The next day, his family called again asking for the same mental health deputy but the 911 officer instead sent Contreras. Killeen Police Chief Charles Kimble confirmed that the family did call for a mental health deputy.
“A mental health call should not be a death sentence. This is one of the worst officer-involved shootings that I’ve seen,” said the family's lawyer, Lee Merritt in an interview with KWTX.
Merritt also called for Contreras to be arrested and charged for the killing.
“There’s no reason that a mental health call like this should result in a fatality. Mr. Warren was not aggressive. Mr. Warren was not armed. He was in his home; he was on his lawn. He was within his rights to reject the services of law enforcement after they arrived," Merritt said at press conference, according to NBC News.
"Their responsibility was simply to leave or send the appropriate personnel to deal with this particular crisis. They failed this family in every way and it’s left them shattered.”
When asked by CNN why Contreras was sent instead of a mental health deputy, Kimble said the emergency operator allegedly heard things that concerned them.
"It was a call for a psychiatric person. But as the call taker was listening to the caller, if certain things are said, or certain things are heard, then it prompts a different response… It prompted a police response, and it prompted a response from fire and medics who were standing by," he said.
KWTX reported that the 911 operator alleged to have heard yelling in the background.
Kimble caused substantial outrage when he defended Contreras' decision to kill Warren, as Blavity previously reported.
"I don't see where he could have done anything else. I saw an officer try to handle a call, de-escalate a call. Given the same set of circumstances, I just don't know what else we could do," Kimble said on Tuesday.
He later criticized the grieving family for what happened, according to KWTX.
“Why did the family let Mr. Warren go out?” Kimble said.
Contreras is still on administrative leave, according to a statement from the Killeen Police Department.
The Texas Rangers have opened an investigation and the Killeen Police Department are conducting their own internal investigation of the incident.
Warren had recently lost his job because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to KWTX. The family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for his funeral. It has raised more than $65,000.
His son, Patrick Warren Jr. created the GoFundMe and wrote about what happened.
"I’m raising money for my father who was tragically killed by Killeen Police 1/10/2021 in front of his family in a nonviolent encounter. My father was the sole provider for his family. He had a life insurance policy but with the rise of COVID-19 he was let go from his job and the policy expired three months ago," he wrote.
Warren Jr. spoke in an interview with KXXV about his father and how the shooting would impact the rest of his life.
"He had so much more life in him. I felt like we were on a whole new journey. I had no idea that was going to happen. We had to watch him take his last breaths on TV. This officer is still able to go out and do things with his family and I am like, 'I'm not afforded the same opportunity so it's a little hurtful," he said.
"We don't just want him arrested. We want him fired. I don't want him to do this to any other family. My name is Patrick Warren Jr. When you think of my father, you are going to see my face. I am here. I am going to make sure they never forget who he is," he added.
A funeral for Warren Sr. will be held on Saturday, Jan. 30.