A newly released video shows the moment when a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy opened fire on Niani Finlayson in front of her child while responding to a domestic violence dispute.
The sheriff’s office released an incident briefing of the Dec. 4 shooting to the public last week. It includes 911 audio of the 27-year-old requesting the police to come to her Lancaster, California, apartment because her boyfriend would not leave.
“Hello, I need the police here. This man, he won’t get out of my house now and I already told him to get out of my house,” Finlayson told the 911 dispatcher.
“Ma’am, stop yelling,” the dispatcher replied. “So, who is he to you?”
Finlayson gives the dispatcher the man’s name but starts screaming on the phone while the dispatcher asks who he is to her.
“Get your a** off of me,” she yelled. “Get your a** off of the… me now. I need the police here right now because he won’t get his hands off of me.”
Three deputies responded to the scene and heard a commotion inside the apartment. The sheriff’s office claims that Finlayson opened the door with a kitchen knife in her hands, saying “she was about to stab him.” The deputies ordered her to put it down.
Body camera footage shows the deputies entering the apartment into the living room while her daughter accuses the man of hitting her. One of them, identified as Ty Shelton, then fired shots within seconds as Finlayson approached her boyfriend. Finlayson was struck four times as her daughter watched in the same room.
Niani Finlayson Incident Briefing
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released an incident break down of the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Niani Finlayson.
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Officials noted that the deputy initially asked his colleague for the Taser but pulled out his gun when he saw Finlayson with the knife in hand while holding her boyfriend’s hand.
“Why did you shoot?” the boyfriend could be heard saying.
The moments immediately after the shooting are unclear because the video is cut off.
Finlayson was transferred to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her boyfriend was taken into custody and charged with assault on a peace officer and child abuse. He was released amid the ongoing investigation. The sheriff’s department told ABC News that the deputy involved was “removed” pending an incident review.
Last month, Finlayson’s family filed a $30 million lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the sheriff’s department. During a recent press conference, her daughter Xaisha said she handed her mother a knife because the boyfriend was harming them.
“I was there. I know the truth about everything.” the 9-year-old said. “He was hurting my mother and me. I didn’t have [any] choice but to get something sharp.”
