The Mesquite Police Department has released footage of a harrowing incident that resulted in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Payton Lawrence by a veteran officer during a stolen vehicle investigation last week. The department made the videos public on Thursday, which include both surveillance visuals and body camera footage from the officer involved. Mesquite officials said the evidence was shared in the interest of transparency surrounding the circumstances of Lawrence's death.
The sequence of events unfolded in the early hours of December 14, as a local officer encountered two vehicles, a Hyundai and a Chrysler, pulling into a 7-Eleven parking lot. The Hyundai would later be identified as stolen, as reported by a resident through an emergency call after the officer had initially passed the scene. On returning to the location and finding the Hyundai abandoned at a pump, the officer focused on the Chrysler, confronting its occupants, according to FOX 4 News.
With the two suspects from the convenience store fleeing, the officer's attention turned to the individuals inside the Chrysler, delivering a barrage of commands to the driver, "Do not move, I will f____ng kill you," the officer could be heard yelling in the footage. Despite his orders, the driver of the Chrysler, later identified as Lawrence, began maneuvering the vehicle, going in reverse before pulling forward and back again. The officer discharged his firearm as the car moved forward, fatally wounding Lawrence, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Police found multiple weapons in the vehicle, including a .45-caliber handgun and a 762 mini Draco, per NBC DFW.
Upon review of the footage, Lawrence's father, Stephen Lawrence, questioned the officer's decision to engage without waiting for backup. "They want us to be patient and wait but if the officer would have waited Payton would have been here," he said. The officer, a 17-year veteran of the force, whose name has not been released, is currently under investigation by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and the department's internal affairs, which is standard procedure following a police-involved shooting. The other individuals in the car were detained but not injured, and two were later released after questioning. A third party was arrested on an outstanding warrant, the details of which were not disclosed by police, according to NBC DFW.
