Police Release Dashcam Video Of Shooting

The Beeville Police Department has released video of an officer involved shooting that resulted in the death of 28-year-old Anthony Albert Ponce on May 31, 2011.

The police officer had pulled Ponce over in the Beeville Walmart parking lot while checking out a reported robbery at a nearby convenience store.

Dashcam video requested by the Beeville Bee-Picayune shows Ponce open his car door and walk up to Sgt. Chris Vasquez with a gun in his hand a cigarette in his mouth.

Sgt. Vasquez backed up as he ordered Ponce to drop the weapon. What happened next is out of view of the camera, but you hear three shots fired, and the officer calls for an ambulance.

Police say Ponce pointed his weapon at the officer before the shooting. The officer is said to have performed CPR in an attempt to save Ponce's life before paramedics arrived. He later died at Christus Spohn Hospital in Beeville.

According to public records, Ponce has a lengthy criminal history that sheds some light on why he may have been so aggressive. In the last six years, Ponce was convicted twice of assault on a public servant, once in Bexar County and once in Harris County. He's also been convicted three times for DWI.

Beeville Police Chief Joe Trevino says that officer took the necessary action in this dangerous situation, but says this is a tragic event for everyone at the department. A grand jury cleared Sgt. Vasquez of any charges in the shooting just two days after the incident.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• caught on tape
• raw video
• dashcam
• dashboard camera
• police shooting
• cops
• trooper
• shots fired
• suicide by cop
• crime
• walmart

[SOFSoldier1]

riteous shoot. Good work officer, thankyou for keeping us safe.

[daunderdogg]

this is one of the few videos ive seen of the police shooting a man where i feel it was justified. He ordered the guy to drop the weapon and allowed him more than enouph time to do it. Plus he didnt over do it by shooting more than he needed to like they usually do. Sad, this officer has to live with this mans death.

[humanoflife]

wow the bad guy was actually a few seconds ahead..took a while for the officer to get his gun

[gaspump86]

I would have shot his ass too.... And I'm just an armed security guard

[sherrod0506]

Suicide.

[TheUnDeRGRouNDHoBo]

suicide by cop

[denalaurens]

@morphyis You are an idiot. There is natural law that dictates that in today's times when a person aggressively walks toward police with gun in hand, (and he shouldn't have come out with it) and not obeying orders to stop, that the logical conclusion is that he has intentions to cause harm. What we didn't see out of camera range is the possibility that he did raise that gun, for whatever reason. Cops are trained to carry guns for their and your protection. Get some sense.

[ahawk7]

it is not reasonable to get out of your car and walk towards an officer with a gun in your hand and not drop it after several commands.. as a police officer you are taught that "action is quicker than reaction". therefore you do not wait for him to point the gun at you before you fire. his action of pulling the gun up and firing will beat your reaction if you wait for that to happen. good shoot case closed

[morphyis]

@denalaurens well by that theory the constitution doesnt say you can't walk a a cop threateningly. and if carrying a gun pointed atthe ground is considered threatening then by that standard every cop out there is a threat to me and i should pull a gun and kill them with no charges against me

[tolz0]

nooo ur joking right.....look at him when he gets out.....gun is pointing down....he then walks towards the officer....gun is still down...your missing the point here sweetheart.....i would have dropped him when i saw the gun!! you look at all these videos where cops are shot....they shoot...they dont get out with the gun pointing down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[denalaurens]

@morphyis Discern. The constitution does not advocate a person may approach officers in a threatening manner while holding a gun, especially when given warning to stop. That was obviously a suicide-by-cop situation. Your assessment is flawed.

[morphyis]

I believe under the consitution we have the right to bear arms and the cop needs to be taken out out back and shot for murder. nowhere does it say that because a cop tells us to do something and that we have to obey and when we dont do it they can kill us.how about a cop walking at me with a gun and i tell him to drop it and he doesn't listen i pull a gun and shoot him because i felt he threatened my life by carrying a gone and wouldn't put it down.