Mcmanus won’t release officer’s bodycam footage from shooting

San Antonio Police Chief William Mcmanus said he will not release the body camera footage of a deadly police shooting from January at the request of the family.

The mother of 26-yearold Erick Mejia asked the department not to make the footage public, according to a news release issued by SAPD over the weekend.

The mother said bystander footage played by local media has caused her great distress.

Mcmanus said there was not enough compelling interest from a law enforcement or public standpoint to go against the wishes of the mother.

On Jan. 27, SAPD officers responded to the area of

Interstate 35 and Zarzamora Street after Mejia, armed with a weapon, fled from a traffic stop and into the nearby South Park Mall.

When the officers found Mejia sitting outside the doors of Dick’s Sporting Goods, he was holding a gun. He then started walking across the parking lot as the officers, with their guns drawn, yelled at Mejia to drop his weapon, a bystander video shows.

Mejia can be heard on the video using explicit language and yelling at the officers to get away from him.

The video shows Mejia raising the gun in his right hand and then police firing, hitting him several times. Mejia was pronounced dead at the scene.

Per SAPD’S policy, the department has 60 days after a critical incident to decide whether to release video recordings and 911 records.

The department revised their body camera policy in December after criticism by the community, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg, for its lack of transparency and its reputation for not providing body cam footage after police shootings.

Mcmanus has final approval to release the footage and may choose to delay the release of recordings and footage for the protection or the safety of individuals involved, the integrity of an active investigation, confidential sources or the constitutional rights of an accused.