Bodycam shows homeless man armed with a knife being fatally shot by Juneau police after non-lethal failed

2 months ago
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0:00 - Cell phone
0:23 - Bodycam 1
16:07 - Leading up to the shooting on bodycam 1
17:16 - Bodycam 2
18:05 - Bodycam 3
18:51 - Bodycam 4
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A Juneau man was shot and killed Monday after refusing to drop a knife he was holding when asked by law enforcement, a Department of Public Safety dispatch reports.

DPS says that at 1:11 p.m. on Monday afternoon, Juneau Police Department officers were following up on an assault that occurred the previous day. They contacted 35-year-old Steven Kissack, a homeless man well-known to residents.

According to DPS, Kissack produced a knife and did not comply when officers made multiple requests asking him to drop the knife. Juneau officers requested additional JPD resources and assistance from an Alaska Wildlife Trooper. After several minutes of negotiation, JPD officers fired bean bag rounds at Kissack, but he did not drop the knife.

Kissack then charged officers, the report says, causing multiple officers to fire their weapons.

Cell phone video captured by a bystander shows the moments leading up to the shooting, and captures the audio of the shooting itself.

Antonio “Boxer” Gamez Escalante, who shot the video, described what he witnessed.

“First, I saw a cop, a cop car, going really fast into a street. And then I saw that it caught it blocked the street completely, right there by the Crystal Saloon,” Gamez Escalante said.

Gamez Escalante said he could hear Kissack screaming, “I have to do it” and saw police fire several bean bag rounds at the homeless man.

“His hands were covered, you know, but they were in front of them,” Gamez Escalante said. “And I guess he just kept on walking forward until I saw the other gun, you know, and I saw that they shot him. And then he started running. That’s when he started charging towards an officer. That’s when I saw the real bullets.”

Gamez Escalante said he came to Juneau less than a month ago and described the city as “really calm.” He said he was taken aback by what happened on Monday afternoon.

“I was more surprised than anything ― not really scared — I only started getting kind of freaked out until I saw the guy fall down,” Gamez Escalante said. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh my god, they really did shoot him,’” he said.

Officers and emergency medical personnel called to the scene attempted lifesaving measures, but were unable to revive Kissack, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital. No officers were injured in the shooting.

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