Body cam footage shows teen girl killed in police shooting was holding fake gun

Body camera footage released Friday by Fullerton, Calif., police shows that a 17-year-old girl killed in a police-involved shooting last week was holding a fake gun, according to authorities.

The July 5 footage shows an officer approaching the back of a gray SUV before the camera briefly shows Hannah Williams standing near the front of the car. Fullerton police say a replica Beretta found near Williams’s body can be seen in her hands, apparently pointed at the officer.

There is no audio for the first 30 seconds of the video, but audio comes on with the officer calling in on his radio, “Shots fired.”{mosads}

“Show me your f–king hands,” the officer can be heard yelling. “Show me your hands.” He can then be heard calling in to notify other officials that Williams is down.

The officer can be heard saying he sees the gun on the ground. He then tells Williams to roll onto her stomach with her arms stretched out so that he can handcuff her.

As he puts her in handcuffs, Williams can be heard pleading for help, telling the officer she can’t breathe and that she was shot in her chest.

“Help me, please,” she can be heard saying in the video.

Another man in plain clothes with a badge approaches the scene and picks up the fake gun, handing it to the officer and telling him that it is a replica. The officer then takes the gun and places it in his vehicle.

The men try to help Williams, who was later taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, KTLA reported.

Fullerton Police are reviewing the incident, the department wrote in a statement. 

Press Release- Critical Incident Community Briefing- Officer Involved Shooting 19-40536 https://t.co/ewo7XcRIax pic.twitter.com/wPFFAdOh5J

— FullertonPD PIO (@FPDPIO) July 12, 2019 

Williams’s family had been looking for her for hours when she was fatally shot, Fullerton Police Lt. Jon Radus said.

KTLA reported that the family said Williams was driving a rental car they were sharing for the July 4th weekend and believed another child may have left the fake gun in the SUV.

Fullerton Police Lt. Jon Radus said Thursday that Williams’s vehicle appeared to have collided intentionally with the police car after he attempted to pull her over. Williams allegedly made a sudden U-turn into oncoming traffic before coming to a skidding halt facing the wrong direction. 

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident.