Jimmy Lopez: Man accused of carrying airsoft gun shot at by police 'at least' 100 times, his family says
HEMET, Calif. - Family and friends gathered Friday in front of Hemet City Hall to demand justice for a man who was shot and killed by police outside a downtown bar on July 4.
The family of Jimmy Lopez said he was unarmed when Hemet Police officers fired "at least 100 rounds" at Lopez, killing him.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m. on July 4, outside a bar in the 200 block of E. Florida Avenue. Hemet Police officers were called out to the area after they got reports that a drunk man had walked out of a bar with a gun in his pants.
Lopez's family shared video of the shooting at their press conference Friday. The video doesn't have any audio, but appears to show Lopez sitting on a sidewalk with his back against the wall. A police officer is seen in the frame down the sidewalk from Lopez. In the video, Lopez appears to be smoking before he sits up from the wall. That's when he appears to be shot several times by someone off-camera.
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Lopez's family said that officers shot him "without conclusive evidence that Jimmy was armed or posed a threat," alleging that they shot at him "at least 100" times. Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a press release Friday, the Hemet Police Department denied the family's claims that Lopez did not pose a threat to officers.
"The Hemet Police Department is aware of allegations that the subject in this officer-involved shooting was unarmed at the time of the incident and or he was compliant with his hands up. This is not the case. The subject involved in this incident was armed with what, from all appearances, was a gun," the department's press release read.
The department said that officers weren't able to determine until after the shooting that what officers thought was a real gun was, in fact, an airsoft gun. The department said that other surveillance and body camera footage showed Lopez with the pistol, pointing it at officers before the shooting. The department said it would release a video with more of that footage "soon," but did share photographs.
Authorities did not comment on the allegations about how many times Lopez was shot.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on July 5 that his office is investigating the shooting, as it does with all officer-involved shootings.
FOX 11 has reached out to the Hemet Police Department for comment and is waiting to hear back.