Fort Wayne Police Department released bodycam of a deadly shooting of a man during a home break-in

Finding videos takes time and effort, keep me motivated by donating to https://paypal.me/thisisbutter
-----
Fort Wayne, IN - The Fort Wayne Police Department (FWPD) has released body camera footage in the deadly police shooting of a 58-year-old man during a home break-in back in September.

Police say 58-year-old John McCloud was shot and killed by FWPD Officer Julian Mestre after police were called to a home break-in at a Wells Street home around 2 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2024.

McCloud’s family has been demanding the release of the footage after viewing the video themselves several months ago, expressing frustration with the department’s transparency in the incident.

FWPD Chief Scott Caudill and Mayor Sharon Tucker said they were delaying the video’s release because of that investigation. But in early April, the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office wrapped up its investigation and announced that Mestre would not be held criminally liable by the office.

In an edited video released by FWPD, a 911 caller could be heard telling dispatchers a man was breaking into a home on Wells Street, saying “he just busted in the door.” The woman said he was “tripping” and was screaming for help before entering the home by breaking through the glass on the front door.

A woman who lived in the home also called 911, saying she heard someone break in and that they were on the other side of the door, the FWPD video shows. The man could be heard in the background, then the woman began screaming and saying he was coming into her bedroom.

Body camera footage from Mestre shows him arrive at the home and get out of his squad car before pulling his gun out and walking up the front steps of the home. Blood could be seen on the floor of the home’s entryway, along with broken glass.

Mestre then goes up bloodied stairs to the room where the woman barricaded herself in, sees McCloud through a cracked door, and shoots four times.

The homeowner said, McCloud started physically assaulting her just before officers arrived, and she could be seen near the man just before Mestre fired his gun.

“The entire time, you can hear John on the ground breathing, gasping, we know he’s still alive,” the McCloud family’s attorney, Harvey Lancaster, said. “They’re not doing any life-saving measures. It’s like they’re just standing there, essentially letting him die.”

“The body cam footage is the final voice from my father,” John Jr., McCloud’s son, said. “If the world can see that, they’ll get that clear view of what actually happened.”

The family says they are planning on pursuing legal action against the department.

The woman who owned the home, who was inside her room at the time McCloud broke in, said she did not believe McCloud broke into her home with any intent to harm her.

She said she heard the sound of breaking glass, later finding McCloud had thrown himself through her glass front door, and called 911. She said he roamed through the home, which was in the process of being renovated, before going upstairs, where she was barricading herself in her room.

She says McCloud tried to get into her bedroom twice, and eventually kicked through her wooden door, went into her room, and began to physically assault her.

She says police arrived right as the altercation was taking place.