Cop body camera shows Baltimore SWAT shooting

BALTIMORE — Body camera video captured a scene rarely made public: a Baltimore SWAT supervisor ordering an officer to kill a man holding two children hostage with a knife. While the video is jarring, the footage offers an unusual window into how officers make a difficult decision to use lethal force.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis showed footage of the recent standoff at a Baltimore rowhome to reporters Tuesday, the latest of three officer shootings recorded by body cameras since the city rolled them out last year.

The video captures a SWAT team sergeant outside the house where authorities had been pleading for nearly an hour Friday for Reno Owens to release the 1-year-old boy and 4-yearold girl. The sergeant said the man could kill the children at any time.

“I want you to be calm,” the sergeant tells SWAT Officer Zachary Wein. “I want you to be relaxed, and I want you to walk in there and kill this guy.”

Moments later, video shows Wein walking up the steps, exchanging a few words with Owens, who refuses to cooperate, and firing a single fatal shot.

Davis praised the officers for their “courage, bravery and grace under pressure.”