The Oklahoma City Police Department has released bodycam and drone footage revealing the events that led to the fatal shooting of Jose Martinez by a police officer on June 4. Martinez, who was wanted on multiple charges including first-degree rape and forcible oral sodomy, fled naked and armed from a house as officers arrived to serve a search and arrest warrant, according to reports by OKC FOX.
In a statement released, the police detailed how the confrontation unfolded near Southeast 59th Street and S Bryant Avenue. Following Martinez's attempt to escape, he attempted to scale a nearby chain-link fence, tossing the firearm over before climbing over himself. He recovered the gun despite police commands, and facing the officer, said, "No you gotta kill me!" before being shot. This sequence was documented in the bodycam footage, KOCO reported.
The victims of Martinez's alleged crimes were reported to include an underage girl and a woman. The police, armed with a warrant for Martinez's arrest, had approached the suspect's home at 5205 Evanbrook Terrace early in the morning. The intense confrontation was shortly thereafter captured on the bodycam footage, with dramatic audio from the incident also released. In the footage, as reported by News 9, Martinez can be heard defying the officer's commands before being fatally shot.
Martinez's last moments, encapsulated by the phrase, "kill me" as he brandished the handgun, have ignited a discussion surrounding the actions of the responding officers. The officer, who has not yet been named, fired the shots that ended Martinez's life after he did not comply with verbal commands to disarm and get on the ground. This culmination of the police action has been scrutinized through the lens of bodycam footage intended to offer transparency to the public during these tense encounters, and the Oklahoma City Police continue to investigate the incident, according to OKC FOX.
