Officer in Renee Good shooting fired the fatal shots while filming with a phone in his left hand [View all]

[EarlG]

UPDATE: as I was initially writing this post, the video from Ross's phone was released. I've added it to the bottom of this post.

I hadn't noticed it until just now, despite watching the videos multiple times.

In the original video from the back-left of the vehicle, you can clearly see that Jonathan Ross is filming the incident, with his phone in his left hand. Here are some screengrabs from the New York Times analysis video:





Why is he doing this? Surely walking in front of a car which is potentially about to move is not good practice, so why is he doing that with a phone in his hand? How closely can he possibly be paying attention to what's happening in front of him if he's holding a phone screen up in his left hand? Is he looking at the car or the screen?

Knowing that he has a phone in his left hand, if you watch the video you can see that the entire incident occurs while he is holding that phone. He draws, aims, and fires his weapon with one hand, all while holding a cell phone in his left hand. After the shooting, he holsters his gun and you can just about still see the phone in his left hand.



This guy is supposed to be a well-trained ten-year veteran firearms expert. Is it standard police practice to walk in front of a car filming a video with a phone in your left hand, then draw, aim, and fire your weapon three times into the car with the other hand, risking hitting the other officer standing right next to you, as well as anyone standing behind the vehicle should the bullets miss or pass through it?

EDITED TO ADD: They've now released the video from Jonathan Ross's phone:

If they've done that, it can only have been done with his consent, and likely his lawyers, and likely the Trump administration. Presumably they think this helps their case that he was hit with the car. Ross's video doesn't really show that, but it certainly proves that he was clearly distracted by his phone while shooting someone.