ST. PAUL, Minn. - The body camera video from the deadly shooting involving two St. Paul police officers has been released -- 10 days after the police chief vowed to make it public.
The video, which was shown and later shared by authorities on Friday, shows the deadly encounter between Officers Matthew Jones and Vincent Adams and the victim, 43-year-old William "Billy" Hughes.
"Our officers do not choose these situations. These situations choose our officers," said St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell.
The shooting took place in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, after police received a call of shots fired on the 900 block of St. Anthony Avenue in St. Paul.
WATCH: [Warning graphic content] Body camera video released in St. Paul fatal shooting
Editor's note: The officer's microphone makes "popping" sounds at the beginning of the shooting.
WATCH: [Warning graphic content] SPPD body camera video analysis
When officers arrived on scene, they walk up and enter the dark screened-in porch of the home. With flashlights in hand, they look through windows and knock on the front door.
"A man can be heard saying, 'I will kill you,'" Axtell said.
A few seconds later, a light comes on and a man opens the side door. The body camera video shows officers encountering Hughes before beginning to yell, "Hands up! Put your hands up! Hands up!" Hughes can be seen in the background slowly walking towards the officers with his hands down at his sides.
Hughes appears to be holding something in his right hand. Axtell identified the object as a handgun.
"You will see Mr. Hughes raising the gun in a sweeping fashion over the officers, who fired their service weapons," Axtell said.
Several shots are fired and you hear an officer swear before calling in, "several shots fired," over his radio.
Hughes can be seen on the ground not moving.
He later died at the scene.
Mylan Masson, a former Minneapolis Park Police officer who has been involved in police training for nearly three decades, said officers would have been on high alert after hearing the "I will kill you" threat. Plus, she said, they were already responding to a call of shots fired.
Masson said officers are trained to give clear verbal commands when they see a weapon, as was the case with Hughes.
"Always verbal commands, as much as possible, to try to make that person comply with your orders," Masson said. "But if they don't, you have to make a move."
The videos show Hughes raising his right arm in the air.
"It's in a position that can hurt you and anyone else that's in that area," Masson said. "And you need to react."
A search warrant application filed by the BCA states that Hughes became angry after falling out of his elevated bed and fired two or three gunshots into a bedroom wall before pointing his loaded gun at his roommate's head.
The roommate fled the room and called police.
BCA agents were informed a firearm was located on the property.
The documents also state that relatives told investigators Hughes had been suicidal over a terminal illness that limited his quality of life.
"Sadly, the officers involved in this incident as well as their families live in a new reality that I hope none of us in this room ever have to live," Axtell said.
During the Friday press conference, Axtell held up two cards from the family of Hughes, written for the two officers who shot and killed their loved one.
"I don't know what they say but my intent is to hand deliver these cards to the officers," Axtell said. "This is the first time in my 30-year career that I've seen such grace by a family whose been met with such a tragedy."
Axtell said his decision to release the video came down to wanting to stop misinformation from being spread about the incident and to uphold the ongoing investigation.
"I have the duty to make sure our officers are not put in harm's way due to misinformation being spread on our streets," he said. "This is a decision that I did not take lightly."
The BCA continues its investigation.
St. Paul Police say the family viewed the video prior to its release.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter released the following statement, following the video's release:
"The body camera footage of Billy Hughes’ death is heartbreaking. I extend my sincere condolences to the Hughes family, to every grieving member of our community, and to Officers Adams and Jones, who were called last week to respond to a situation no officer would ever hope to encounter.
A fatal officer-involved shooting is one of the toughest challenges a city can face. I commend the Hughes family for their grace in the face of crisis. I commend Chief Axtell and the Saint Paul Police Department for setting a new bar for transparency by releasing this footage today, and I commend the BCA for their swift and thorough approach to guiding us toward justice through their ongoing investigation.
All of Saint Paul is united today in mourning Billy Hughes, and in wishing this terrible incident had never happened. As we process the range of emotions his death evokes, I remain committed to building community, and to ensuring our officers are equipped with the tools, resources, and trust they need to help us keep our neighborhoods safe."
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi also released a statement:
The death of William Hughes, captured on video, is difficult to watch. My heart goes out to Mr. Hughes’ family and friends and the two police officers who were involved in this shooting. Undoubtedly, the release of this video will engender a wide variety of feelings in our community, including sadness, anger and confusion.
It will be the job of this office to analyze all of the evidence gathered through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) investigation and decide whether the use of lethal force was justified under the law. While the video that the public will see today is one critical piece of evidence, it does not tell the entire story. The testimony of the officers involved in the shooting, the friend of William Hughes who called 911 and other key facts are crucial to truly understanding what happened that night.
I want to assure the public that we will be thorough in our work. We will utilize the resources and time necessary to make the right decision, recognizing that any decision we make may be difficult for some people in our community to accept. Our goals are to seek the truth, remain faithful to the law, uphold the integrity of the process, and to conduct our work without bias, fear or favor.
In the interest of speeding up our decision-making timeline, I have asked my team of prosecutors to conduct our prosecution review simultaneously with the BCA’s investigation, which includes consulting independent use-of-force and police procedure experts. To enable all of this to happen, the BCA has agreed to present us evidence as they collect it. We are receiving information from them on a daily basis, so I am confident we will have what we need to make our decision more quickly than in past officer-involved shooting incidents we have reviewed.
The St. Paul Police Federation also weighed in on the incident Friday, stating, "We believe our officers involved acted heroically and are proud of them. This video is some of the evidence that demonstrates their professionalism and dedication to protecting innocent lives in our community. However, we also believe the department should not have released this video outside of the context of a complete and thorough investigation. The officers, family, and society deserve the complete story and not a piecemeal release of evidence."