Clermont police bodycam video released in police shooting of 81-year-old man
By: Video released by the Clermont Police Dept. Friday shows the police interaction with an 81-year-old man who allegedly prompted a shootout with police.
The incident happened Aug. 6 at a mobile home complex along West State Road 50. Police said firefighters and paramedics had responded to the home earlier in the day and were shot at, causing police to go to the home.
The body-worn camera video released by the agency is from the point of view of a backup officer at the incident.
The video shows police loudly demanding several times that the man in the doorway, identified by police as Wallace Sims Wainwright, drop his gun. Then the officer is heard saying, “He’s aiming it,” followed by the sound of gunshots.
“Shots fired, shots fired,” another officer is heard saying.
The gunshots are heard off camera, and video doesn’t show who fired shots.
The officer then takes up a position on the outside, pointing his gun at the windows, while the other officer goes into the home. The officer in the home is heard screaming that Wainwright is still holding two guns.
“Man, I can’t tell. I can’t tell. The way he’s laying, I can’t see,” the officer is heard saying.
The officer with the camera then goes into the home and checks Wainwright, who is on the ground crying, to see if there are any more guns. He finds another one. Blood can be seen on Wainwright’s chest and on the ground.
Wainwright was taken to the hospital and is still there, according to police. He faces charges of attempted felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, police said.
The Clermont police chief said he released the video in the interests of transparency, and he is not releasing the names of the officers involved. The Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement is investigating.