The fatal police shooting of Elijah James Smith sparked outrage among a Utah town's residents. 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, West Valley City police released body camera footage of the shooting and killing of Smith this week. The footage spans three videos, per KUER 90.1 Utah.  

The shooting of Smith occurred after a chase; police were on the lookout for a black man, wearing a grey hoodie, accused of stealing a cell phone from a store. Smith was suspected of being this man.

Police chased Smith, who knocked on a door for help. A 13-year-old boy answered, who said Smith pushed past him when he opened the door. The same boy can be heard telling police, “There’s some, some guy here.”

The officers followed Smith inside, and cornered him in a garage. They then shouted at him to put his hands up. His left hand he put up immediately; his right hand remained in his pocket for a few seconds.

Police shouted at him, "Get your hand out of your pocket!"

As he complied, police fired three shots as well as a stun gun at him; only one of the bullets hit. That bullet proved to be fatal.

Some activists are calling the killing "murder," and ask why the officers didn't choose to deploy nonlethal force.

“Once again, it’s clear that police will see whatever they want to see in order to justify violence against people of color,” Dave Newlin, of Utahns Against Police Brutality, said. “I see a terrified young man with his hand in the air, desperately and clearly trying to put up his other hand exactly as police have demanded. I see someone who is trapped after running for his life, who knows that at any moment, the violent racism of Utah’s police could take his life, as indeed it does … This was murder.”

West Valley City police chief Colleen Jacobs believes the officers "followed protocol," and argues that Smith was shot not because of his race, but due to not adhering to the officer's commands. Jacobs called the words of activists like Newlin unfair. “It’s a little premature for me to make any kind of assumptions without knowing the full totality of the circumstances, up to and including the perception of the officers,” the chief said.

The unidentified officer who killed Smith has been placed on paid administrative leave, and Unified Police Department is currently investigating the shooting.