Chilling new video footage released by the Florida police department captures the moment a sheriff's deputy guns down a man moments after his brother was shot dead after a fight in the parking lot of a hotel. The incident, which took place at the parking lot of Heritage Hotel in Orlando on August 6, ended in both the brothers dying within the span of a few minutes.
The officer has since been placed on temporary administrative leave pending an investigation. The video released by the Orange County Sheriff's Department on Friday shows the immediate aftermath of that incident, as onlookers crowded around the brother and tried to tend to the dying man.
Shocking Moment
The Orange County Sheriff's Office, which released the body-cam footage on Friday, shows a deputy arriving at the Heritage Hotel on August 6 around 12:30 p.m., when he discovers a man on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. According to the police, the victim, 21-year-old Dylan Jimenez, and his brother, Bryan Matthew Richardson, had a fight going on with another man before cops arrived.
The fight involved a gun battle. Both Jimenez and the unnamed person exchanged gunfire during the altercation, according to officials, and both were hit. Jimenez was left bleeding out in the hotel parking lot after the altercation, prompting his brother, Richardson, 28, to rush to the scene.
The video shows the immediate aftermath of that incident, as witnesses gathered around Jimenez and attempted to care for the dying man. To the deputy's apparent surprise, Richardson stood outside the group of onlookers huddled over the dying guy.
Richardson was obviously distressed about his brother's situation when one onlooker yells that he had a revolver by his side. "He has a gun in his hand pointing it at people!" someone can be heard shouting on the video.
After being on the scene for a few seconds, the cop notices the armed man, and when his female colleague approaches to take the gun away from him, the officer draws his service weapon and points it at Richardson.
In the video, Richardson doesn't seem aggressive and even hands the gun to the female police while reaching out to the deputy as if to plead, "Don't shoot," yet despite this, the officer opens fire and shoots him eight times.
"Deputies directed that man – later identified as Bryan Richardson – to drop the gun," Orange County Sheriff John Mina said in a statement. "When he did not comply, one deputy fired his weapon."
No Chance to Explain
After being taken to a local hospital, both brothers would subsequently be pronounced dead. The heartbreaking video was made public as police looked into whether the officer who killed the brothers was justified in doing so. Many people also questioned if both siblings needed to die.
The other unknown man, who was also hospitalized but survived the incident, was involved in the "altercation," the sheriff's office claims, and both Jimenez and Richardson were there. However, what is tragic is that Richardson never got a chance to give any explanation before he was shot dead.
The deputy who shot Richardson has been placed on temporary administrative leave, and Mina said a probe into the incident is continuing.
The exact reason behind the altercation between the unknown man and the two brothers is yet not known. However, police said that the fight was quite fierce which led to the deaths of Jimenez.
According to deputies, Jimenez and the third man started shooting at each other before collapsing next to a white pickup truck parked outside the motel after each man had struck the other. The Sheriff's office claims that Jimenez was shot and then fled to that location with his brother, falling in the hotel parking lot on the north side where he was discovered by the deputy.
Due to Marsy's Law, a contentious 2018 law that guarantees that crime victims have equal, constitutional rights on par with those accused of crimes, the sheriff's office withheld any information about the deputy involved. However, the office did note that the deputy has been with the sheriff's office since 2018.
He has been placed on paid temporary administrative leave while an internal police investigation is ongoing. The state is also conducting its own investigation into the deputy-involved shooting - as is the case with any use of force.
