SILVER SPRING, Md. — New body-worn camera footage shows the moment an officer shot and killed a man after repeatedly telling the man to drop what appeared to be a knife, but turned out to be a grill fork.
The deadly shooting happened along Janet Road in Silver Spring on Sept. 21. According to the Montgomery County Department of Police, officers were called to the area for a reported assault in progress.
The body-worn camera video shows an officer arriving to find a group of people standing in a yard. The group appears anxious and the officer is heard telling everyone to calm down. The group then points across the street and a man, later identified as 31-year-old Melvin Omar Chavez-Paz, walks out from behind a house.
As Chavez-Paz begins walking toward a person walking a dog, the group begins screaming. The officer then notices the object Chavez-Paz is holding, and takes out his gun while yelling for him to "drop the knife." The object was later discovered to actually be a grill fork.
The officer repeatedly tells Chavez-Paz to drop the object, while also keeping his gun pointed at Chavez-Paz as he continues walking toward the officer.
Chavez-Paz appears to point at a cut on his head while saying something before making his way toward the group of people across the street. That is when the officer shot Chavez-Paz.
The entire interaction lasts less than a minute. A second dash camera video shows more officers arriving as the officer shoots Chavez-Paz.
Chavez-Paz was killed in the shooting. The officer who shot him has since been identified as Corporal Cody Hobbs, a 12-year veteran of the Montgomery County Department of Police. Hobbs was placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is department protocol.