In an unprecedented move, the Fairbanks Police Department have released body camera footage of an August 2016 incident during which a sergeant shot and killed an armed man.
James Robert Richards, 28, was shot twice in the head after assaulting two people at the Alaska Motel and leading police on a chase through downtown Fairbanks, according to the findings from an investigation by the Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions.
Fairbanks police Sgt. Gregory Foster, who shot Richards, will not face criminal charges, according to the Department of Law.
On Aug. 30, 2016, just after 1:30 p.m., the Fairbanks Police Department responded to the Alaska Motel for reports of assault and shots fired. The suspect was described as an armed man in a white t-shirt, later identified as Richards.
Police found Richards meandering through the buildings of the Cushman Street corridor.
“When officers arrived on scene, Mr. Richards was ignoring loud, clear verbal commands to stop and was clearly armed with a pistol,” the Department of Law stated in its report.
Commands and warnings — “Drop the gun!” and “It doesn’t have to be this way!” — can be heard in the footage released Friday. Police then shot Richards with a taser, but he continued to walk away.
In the video, Richards then approaches a man at a nearby bus stop and grabs him, in a manner the Department of Law says suggested he was using him as “a human shield,” the report says. At that point, an officer on scene can be heard yelling, “He’s got a hostage!”
“If Sgt. Foster reasonably believed that his use of deadly force was necessary to prevent serious physical injury or the kidnapping… Sgt. Foster was legally justified in using deadly force,” the report states.
FPD held a press conference via Facebook live on Friday, when Chief Eric Jewkes says the department released the video to show the community “officers did the right thing.”
“That’s their job. They put themselves between people making bad choices, putting people in danger and the city of Fairbanks and the rest of the citizens that might be harmed from that,” Jewkes said of his officers. “And that’s what they did. And unfortunately, it resulted in Mr. Richards losing his life.”
A toxicology report showed Richards was under the influence of alcohol, methamphetamine and marijuana at the time of his death, the Department of Law stated in its report.
KTVA 11’s Sierra Starks can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.
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