NEW ORLEANS — Video from multiple police bodycams gives us a clearer picture of what happened as the New Orleans Police Department responded to a domestic disturbance, and the suspect came out of the home with a gun.
The suspect survived being shot by one of the officers and is facing new charges after he was released from the hospital. The NOPD said its officers had every right to open fire on the man. The department released a new video of the incident on Friday.
WWL Louisiana's Alyssa Curtis reports.
On Sept. 7, NOPD officers showed up at the 3200 block of Bienville for a domestic call.
"Officers are trained that domestics have high volatility and they're emotionally charged, said NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. "They're between people who have deep feelings with one another. "The mindset of these officers are trained to approach understanding that these are high-risk calls," she said.
When they got there shortly after 11 p.m. — NOPD said the officers didn't know the person who ran across the street was the suspect in the domestic call. They said at the time the man — who we now know was Justin Martin was not armed.
But Martin eventually comes back out — this time with a semi-automatic gun.
"Officers ordered him to drop the weapon but he refused," Kirkpatrick said.
NOPD said Martin was on the top porch of the two-story home and pointing the gun at the officers. They told him to put the gun down, but instead, they said he walked closer, aggressing and repositioning himself in an already advantaged position.
NOPD officers fired first — with two shots. Then Martin fired at the officers, three times. He dropped the gun to the ground and it went off again.
"It appears as the officer's action was within our policy and that I think their actions based on the scenario were courageous actions," WHO SAID said.
Eventually, they were able to handcuff him, but Martin was hit with a bullet in his abdomen. An officer on the scene who has medical training helped Martin.
While the investigation into the incident is still under investigation, Kirkpatrick commended the officer's calm demeanor.
"The training and mindset of calmness and intentionality by the officer keeping his head is something we're all very proud of," she said.
Martin is now facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault on a peace office, battery on a dating partner with strangulation, and resisting an office with violence.
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