Judge Orders Release Of Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy's Body Cam Video In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Dumpster Diver In 2017
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — A judge has ordered a deputy's body cam video to be released in the 2017 fatal shooting of an unarmed man who was dumpster diving at the Cabazon outlet mall.
The family of Edward Paul Manning is suing Riverside County for his death, claiming excessive force and lack of accountability.
The 26-year-old man had been reported to be looking through a trash dumpster behind the outlet mall on March 4, 2017, and ran away when Riverside County sheriff's deputies arrived. In the foot pursuit across the 10 Freeway and into an open field, Deputy George Scott shot at Manning 11 times, the attorneys representing Manning's family said. Manning collapsed on the side of a service road, and attorneys say Scott shot at Manning four more times as he was on the ground.
Manning had been hit in the back and the leg, and died a short time later.
In the released footage, the deputy can be heard shooting repeatedly into the dark while yelling, "let me see your hands! drop it! let me see your hands! put your hand up!" A light from a helicopter overhead shows a figure in the distance lying on the ground near a tree as the deputy says, "I can't see his hands, he's pointing something at me. He's holding his waistband."
The video shows the figure on the ground tried to sit up, then laid back down with hands at his side.
"Mr. Manning was unarmed, nonviolent, and was running away when the deputy repeatedly shot him in the back," lead attorney John Taylor said in a statement. "Edward wasn't a threat to any deputy. He needed help, but instead the deputies escalated the situation and killed him."
Deputy Scott is back on the job. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has not yet responded to a call for comment on the case.
