About a domestic disturbance on December 7.
“They’re gonna shoot you, man,” onlookers shout at Jean Pedro Pierre as he holds Broward County deputy Sean Youngward’s ankle.
“Let him go. You’re gonna get yourself in bad trouble. There’s a lot more coming, man.”
Pierre, 42, kicks deputy Youngward’s thigh a few times before back up deputy Steven Briggs arrives with his gun drawn.
“Tase him! Tase him! Don’t shoot him,” voices can be heard pleading with deputy Briggs.
Youngward tries to break away from Pierre by striking at him with his Baton as Pierre holds his ankle.
Eventually, Pierre drops Youngward’s leg and attempts to run away.
That’s when Briggs opens fire, dropping Pierre to the ground.
The video, which was taken by Romeo Pericles, shows Pierre still alive, laying on the ground while officers approach with their guns drawn on him.
One deputy approaches Pierre with a gun drawn; another approaches wearing a glove.
One of the deputies bends over to check Pierre’s condition and eventually an officer can be seen administering CPR.
Emergency personnel trasported Pierre to the hospital, where he later died.
Broward County officials said Pierre “charged” at Briggs, but it appears he’s actually attempting to run away in the video.
“Deputy Sean Youngward was attacked by Mr. Pierre. He was punched, he was kicked and he was knocked to the ground,” Broward County Sheriff Scott Isreal said during a news conference Friday.
“It was a violent encounter.”
Officials claim deputy Youngward used his taser on Pierre, but said that didn’t stop him from attacking the deputy.
“He did everything he could to save himself and to end this confrontation, he was overwhelmed by the superior size and strength of Mr. Pierre,” Sheriff Israel told reporters.
“He gave several clear concise, lawful and legal orders to Mr. Pierre. Mr. Pierre chose a path of non-compliance.”
Pierre’s friends and family said that’s not the man they know and have questions about what led up to the altercation.
“He was a loving, caring person. Loved his family, loved his kids. This is devastating to all of us, it’s not making sense,” Pierre’s friend, Nekita Dulcio, said.
Pierre’s family said he was a Haitian entrepreneur and once ran for political office in Haiti.
The video, which contains graphic images of violence, can be seen below.
