JAMESVILLE, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- Attorney General Letitia James released body camera footage on Friday from the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Judson Albahm last March, but footage of the actual shooting is conspicuously absent.
None of the four police officers who shot Albahm were wearing body cameras, sources tell 1010 WINS. Neither were any officers who witnessed the shooting.
A spokesperson for the state police confirmed none of the officers who shot Albahn were wearing body cameras.
James is currently investigating the shooting. Her office said the videos were released “in order to increase transparency and strengthen public trust in these matters.”
Four officers from three different agencies shot and killed Albahm while he was having a mental health episode. The teenager was on the autism spectrum and was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. He was carrying a BB gun when police shot him.
Seventeen shots can be heard in audio from the body camera footage of one officer who was standing nearby when New York State Police Trooper Corey Fike, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Amy Bollinger and Town of DeWitt Police Department investigators Lucas Byron and Matthew Menard opened fire.
The videos show at least a dozen officers with assault rifles swarming the suburban neighborhood that Albahm lived in. One video shows an officer kneeling over what appears to be a body.
The DeWitt Police Department was the only agency of the three that was using body cameras at the time, and they only had 16 in circulation, according to WSTM TV.
The department announced it would start buying enough cameras for the entire force less than two weeks after the shooting.
The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office started equipping body cameras in April 2021, a little over a month after the shooting, Spectrum News reported.
The New York State Police started equipping body cameras on April 1, 2021 after a state law mandated the practice for state officers.
The initiative was just completed last month, according to a spokesperson for the state police.
The DPD and OCSO could not be reached for comment, but the NYSP said Fike is still on active duty and could not confirm whether disciplinary action was taken.
Two weeks after the killing, WSTM TV reported all four officers were placed on paid leave.
Albahm’s family sued police on March 15, less than two weeks after the one-year anniversary of the shooting, according to The Post-Standard.
Related
Related
