Hemet Police release body camera footage of fatal July 4 shooting

HEMET, Calif. - The Hemet Police Department released body camera footage of a July 4 shooting that left a man dead.

The family of Jimmy Lopez said he was shot and killed by Hemet Police officers on July 4. 

The shooting happened around 2 a.m. that morning, 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.

Included with the body camera footage was a recording of the 911 call. During that call, a bouncer at the bar told the dispatcher that while Lopez was leaving the bar, he dropped his phone and a gun fell out of his pocket. The bouncer then said Lopez picked the gun up and kept walking. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Jimmy Lopez: Man accused of carrying airsoft gun shot at by police 'at least' 100 times, his family says

Officers found him minutes later, sitting on a sidewalk near the intersection of Carmelita Street and Florida Avenue.

The first officers there told Lopez to take his hands out of his pockets and put his hands on his head. The footage showed Lopez did.

As more officers get there, one is heard shouting "I see something black by his right buttocks. I can't tell what it is, but there's something right… it looks like a pistol grip."

From another angle. Lopez is seen picking up a vape and taking a hit, before leaning to his side, seeming to pick something up. According to the Hemet Police Department, Lopez picked up a weapon and pointed it at officers. That's when he was shot. 

Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers found the weapon on the ground after the shooting. After the department analyzed it, however, they found it was an airsoft pistol. 

The airsoft gun retrieved from a fatal officer-involved shooting in Hemet on July 4, 2024.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on July 5 that his office is investigating the shooting, as it does with all officer-involved shootings.

The full video can be watched below: