A new video of Andrew Thomas being shot by police has been released, showing one officer shooting the 26-year-old as he tried to climb out of an overturned car and then continuing to deny that it happened for several minutes as the man pleaded for help.
Thomas was shot November 25 after a suspected drunken driving accident. The man’s wife was killed in the crash, and video shows officer Patrick Feaster shooting Thomas as he emerged from the vehicle unarmed.
Feaster had followed the SUV after it exited a nearby bar with its headlights off. After a short chase, Thomas hit the median and crashed the car.
The Andrew Thomas shooting video led to outrage after prosecutors declined to press charges, saying that the officer’s gun fired accidentally.
The video shows Feaster walking toward the car with his gun drawn. When Andrew Thomas emerged from the window of the car, Feaster fired at least one shot, the Chico Enterprise-Record reported. Thomas fell back into the car while Feaster holstered his weapon.
But over the course of the next several minutes, Patrick Feaster seemed to ignore the gunshot.
Feaster also did not tell first responders about the gunshot.
Many are calling on police to fire Patrick Feaster, with a Facebook page called Justice for Andrew Thomas gaining attention.
“We’re just out here to address the issue that we want officer Feaster fired,” Joshua Turner, Thomas’ friend who launched the Facebook page, told NBC affiliate KNVN . “We don’t feel safe with him back on the street.”
There is also a petition calling on Attorney General Kamala Harris to override the decision not to press criminal charges.
“Police aren’t being held accountable for these shootings all over the country, and when it happened to someone I knew, I couldn’t sit at home and be silent,” Turner added. “A lot of people feel that way in Paradise as well.”
Paradise, California Officer Patrick Feaster will not be charged for shooting Andrew Thomas in the neck! https://t.co/MCJxDDp48L
— OccuWorld (@OccuWorld) December 15, 2015
Accidental?! Cops shouldn’t treat communities like enemies… Only use force as a last resort! https://t.co/Y2hjSjiuff @gawker #AndrewThomas
— ACLU of Northern CA (@ACLU_NorCal) December 14, 2015
Now the outrage is building even more. In response to a request from the Chico Enterprise-Record , Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey released six video clips from the body cameras worn by responding officers Manny Ayala and John Alvies. These revealing videos appear to show a cover-up on the part of Feaster, who denied shooting Thomas several times.
In one video, Andrew Thomas told police that he had been shot but was dismissed by Patrick Feaster.
“Get out of the car, sir. You’re not shot. Get out of the car, sir,” Feaster said.
Later, Thomas could be heard telling Alvies that he was shot.
“Who shot you? Did you get shot at the Canteena?” the officer asked.
Thomas answers, “The cop.”
“The cop did not shoot you,” Alvies said.
Later, as Feaster and Alvies tried to break the windshield to reach Thomas, Ayala told Alvies that he thought Andrew Thomas might be badly hurt.
When Thomas was finally pulled out of the vehicle, firefighters saw that he had indeed been shot. Ayala then told Feaster that they had to go back to the bar to find who shot the man, and only then did Patrick Feaster admit that he shot the man.
“No, no. I had an A.D. (accidental discharge)…. I don’t think I shot him. I wasn’t even pointing at him but the gun did go off,” Feaster said.
Video of the Andrew Thomas shooting can be seen here , but be warned that some of the video clips contain graphic images.
[Image via YouTube ]
