A retired U.S. Army sergeant was caught on body camera footage calmly trying to negotiate with police while refusing their orders moments before he was killed in an officer-involved shooting.
Trae Spurlock, 26, repeatedly told police in Casper, Wyoming, that he refused to go to jail for domestic battery after admitting that he pushed his girlfriend out the door on June 6.
He can be seen in body camera footage released Monday drinking and vaping repeatedly while telling officers, “I don’t care, death at the hands of police doesn’t sound that bad.”
The situation finally escalated when he apparently tried to reach for a rifle on a balcony behind him a few minutes later, and the officers hit him with a Taser and began firing seven shots.
He was hit six times and died from his injuries. Cowboy State Daily reports.
Trae Spurlock, 26, was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Casper, Wyoming, on June 6.
He told police he was not going to jail and said it was “either death at the hands of the police or not.”
Police say they were first called to Spurlock’s apartment around 9:30 p.m. to reports of a disturbance.
When officers arrived at the scene, they spoke with a woman who claimed to be a victim of domestic violence.
Officers then tried unsuccessfully to make contact with the suspect for five minutes, the Casper Police Department reports.
Then, when the victim asked to be escorted back to the apartment so she could grab some of her belongings, they find Spurlock shirtless and wearing pajama pants on the balcony, with a rifle just a few feet away.
‘He’s out here. He has a rifle next to him,” one of the police officers can be heard reporting on the body camera footage.
Just then, Spurlock walks through the sliding glass door that leads to the balcony. He stops at the door and begins to confront the officers at the scene.
“You’re trespassing on private property, so I might shoot you,” Spurlock says matter-of-factly.
Police first found Spurlock sitting on his balcony, shirtless and with a rifle at his side.
During his encounter with police, Spurlock could be seen drinking and vaping.
Spurlock could then be seen opening the sliding glass door further as an officer tries to explain that they were just escorting his girlfriend.
‘I don’t care, death at the hands of a police officer doesn’t sound that bad, but what do you want?’ he answers.
The officers then ask him what had happened between him and his girlfriend, to which he responds, “I told her to get out, so I pushed her.” She wouldn’t leave.
Seemingly taking this in, one of the officers begins to ask Spurlock to enter the apartment and move away from the rifle.
“He’s behind me,” he points out.
“Yeah, about three steps behind you,” the policeman responds.
Spurlock then appears to become defensive, telling officers at the scene, “I’m not going to jail tonight, whether the police kill me or not.”
“I’ve been in a lot of shootings in my life. I’m not afraid of another,” he continues.
‘The point is that I’m not going to jail tonight, (I) refuse to do so. Take it as you like.
Spurlock, a retired Army sergeant, repeatedly told police he refused to go to jail.
Spurlock would go on to tell officers that he can hit a target at 300 yards and that “that gun is three feet behind me.”
‘He can grab his gun, she can grab his gun faster than I can grab that damn gun. So now you’re not in any immediate danger,” she tries to assure the cop, pointing out, “If I wanted to shoot you, I (could) have picked all three of you off this damn balcony.”
‘If I wanted to kill them, I would have already done it before they walked out their damn door. You’ll be fine, calm down,’ he tells the police.
Spurlock eventually agrees to enter the apartment if the police backed away, and said he would meet them halfway by closing the sliding glass door halfway.
But when the officer explains that admitting that he pushed his girlfriend amounts to domestic battery and that he would have to go to jail, Spurlock begins to talk about the process of being handcuffed and going to jail, repeating once again that he is not going to do that. .
He told officers that he has been involved “in many shootings” and that he “doesn’t fear another one.”
The officer tries to reiterate that he wants to resolve the situation peacefully and asks Spurlock to “turn around and put his hands behind his back,” but Spurlock refused.
He then refused to enter the apartment further and instead put his arm behind his back to grab the handle of the now half-closed sliding glass door.
Seeing this, one of the officers on the scene was heard warning him: “They’re going to Taser you” as he ran out the balcony door.
The officers then acted quickly, deploying the Taser and firing seven shots as Spurlock fell to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, one of the police officers could be seen attempting to administer first aid, while Spurlock lay curled up in the fetal position, moaning.
Spurlock was shot and Tasered after he refused to return to the apartment and instead appeared to run toward his rifle.
Spurlock leaves behind three children, reports the Buffalo Bulletin.
His friend Ryan Sweeney later described him as a “fantastic human being.”
“He’s done a lot through his actions to show that, and he’s always been helpful to other people,” Sweeney said.
Police have not identified the officer who fired the fatal shots, but have said the officer has been placed on administrative leave while the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office investigate the shooting.
