Guillermo Medina: Body cam video released in shooting death of Culver City dad

CULVER CITY, Calif. - The Culver City Police Department released body camera footage and patrol cruiser videos that showed moments leading up to the shooting death of Guillermo Medina in Dec. 2022.

This comes as earlier in the week, V. James DeSimone, the attorney representing Medina's family claimed there was "no truth" that Medina made threats with a handgun. The attorney made the declaration Tuesday with Medina's wife shaking her head vehemently at the time.

But a newly-released video from Culver City PD counters the attorney. The department released phone call audio and videos from the scene.

Back in Dec. 2022, Medina's wife called Culver City PD's front desk – not 911 – just after midnight. In the phone call audio, the wife can be heard telling staff that she is scared.

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"He's got a gun and I'm scared," she is heard saying. "He's just up there knocking on windows. He doesn't know where he is.

When police arrived at the scene, officers tried to speak with Medina. Instead of following police orders, that patrol car video shows him driving away and leading police on a near-hour-long pursuit. The chase ultimately ended in a crash and a footchase ensued.

Medina was ultimately shot and killed by the officers who chased him. In the videos released by police, an officer is heard accusing Medina of carrying a gun.

Instead of a gun, Medina had a dark-colored cell phone with him. Officers found a replica gun inside his vehicle.

His wife said earlier in the week that Medina had stopped taking his medication for schizophrenia and was acting erratically.

The Medina family is seeking compensation and punitive damage from the city and Culver City PD over the wrongful death. 

DeSimone's office issued the following statement on Thursday after the department released body camera footage of the deadly incident:

"We have reviewed the critical incident community briefing on the officer involved shooting of Dec. 18, 2022. Our client was clearly distraught that evening and did not recall everything she said. As attorneys, we did our best to accurately communicate what was conveyed to us about that evening. What the briefing makes clear is that Guillermo Medina did not have a gun on his person when he was shot in the back and killed and the officers observed that it was a cell phone in his hand prior to shooting him."