Attorney General releases video of Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy firing at teen burglary suspects
Editor’s note: The video, which shows the shooting, might be considered graphic. The Attorney General’s Office issued a similar warning: “This video contains imagery that viewers may find disturbing.”
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The State Attorney General has released video related to its investigation into the death of two teenage burglary suspects, who had been shot at by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy in DeWitt last week.
The video has been considered a critical piece of evidence, showing what the deputy encountered, but hadn’t been made public until now.
The video might be the best images of what happened, because the deputy didn’t activate his uniform-worn camera or vehicle dashboard camera, Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley admitted last week.
Sheriff Shelley defended his deputy’s actions, citing the neighborhood surveillance video just made public.
The video shows two vehicles at first, before the SUV drives away. The remaining car, first blocked by the deputy’s cruiser, backs into bushes, before nearly hitting the deputy who instantaneously fires his weapon.
The sheriff’s office later responded to a crash, involving the same vehicle. One teen had died. Another later died at the hospital.
The teens have been identified as 15-year-old Lueth Mo and 17-year-old Dhal Apet.
It’s not clear if the deaths were caused by the gunfire, the crash, or something unknown in between. Because the deaths could be the result of the victim’s encounter with police, the State Attorney General took jurisdiction over the investigation.
Along with the video, the Attorney General’s Office wrote: “The release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime.”
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