Junior Lopez Shooting LVMPD Media Briefing in Las Vegas
Channel: Nevada Cop Block (NVCopBlock.org)
Date: 2018-04-20

This is a press conference held by the LVMPD after the shooting of Junior Lopez by Las Vegas police officers during a traffic stop. This fatal shooting happened early in the morning of April 6th 2018. The media briefing includes body camera footage from both officers involved in the shooting.

In the description they included when they uploaded this video, as well as initial statements to the press after the shooting, the LVMPD claimed that Lopez had dropped the gun seen in the video as he was getting out of the car. They also stated that he had picked up the gun and pointed it at the officers and that was the reason he was shot.

However, when you watch the actual bodycam footage it doesn't support either of those statements. It's pretty obvious that he intentionally threw the gun down on the ground. In addition, it's pretty clear on the video that he pushed the gun away from himself prior to being shot. At no point in time did he ever pick up the gun.

Beyond those visible discrepancies in the video, Lopez' fiancee and a friend, who were in the car during the shooting have accused Metro of altering the video. According to them, the police officers ordered Lopez to step out of the vehicle and Lopez had said, "don't shoot me" prior to pushing the gun away. They maintain that the audio has been edited to support the police narrative, including removing the word "don't" from Lopez' statement.

One of the things in the video pointed out by those who support their allegations is that the audio is muted initially (at the point where a command to get out of the car would have been given). 
The official explanation for this is that the audio on a bodycam doesn't start until 30 seconds after it is turned on. However, typically the bodycams would be turned on as soon as a stop was initiated and usually the beginning of such footage would show the inside of the police car as they were pulling a car over. Instead, in this case the video doesn't start until Lopez has already stopped the car and gotten out.

While an analysis of the video by a professional audio expert would need to be made to substantiate these claims, it should be noted that this would not be the first instance of police within the Las Vegas area being caught editing the audio on an official video. Dashcam video from a 2016 arrest in Boulder City had the audio altered to support a charge of resisting arrest (http://nvcopblock.org/162014/boulder-city-nv-police-employee-year-commits-perjury-to-arrest-man/). The fact that the audio was edited was not only testified to by a forensic audio expert, but also the dashcam video of a Nevada Highway Patrol car that had recorded the same exact time frame later produced during discovery did not include the audio that had been added to the footage from the Boulder City Police dash camera video by someone. (http://nvcopblock.org/173512/nhp-dash-cam-audio-doesnt-match-boulder-city-police-evidentiary-hearing-ordered/)

The entire bodycam footage (by itself) can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/-6PcviqDGxs

The bodcam footage recorded by LVMPD Officer Rivera (driver side) can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/Tjy-ihJDU0M

The bodcam footage recorded by LVMPD Officer Mills (passenger side) can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/bkTZx7I5v_8

A side by side view of bodycam footage from both officers can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/LQIO1QXXGZc

Additional details of the family's side of the story can be found here: http://www.forcedtrajectory.com/blog/murder-on-the-shortcut-road

Incidentally, Lopez had recently applied to become an LVMPD officer. So, obviously he was not a criminal with a lengthy record or someone who disliked the police.