The Baton Rouge Police Department has reinstated two officers who were involved in the July fatal shooting of a Baton Rouge man who armed himself with scissors and allegedly lunged at police.
An internal BRPD investigation into the officers’ conduct found they did not break department policy and that the use of lethal force was justified. The officers have since returned to Uniformed Patrol.
The officers were called to a residence in the 5100 block of Washington Avenue just before 4 a.m. on July 5. Minutes after their arrival, one officer shot and killed Anthony Pursley, 38, who was armed with scissors, inside the residence. A second officer was armed with a Taser, per department policies.
One of Pursley’s cousins called 911 and told police that Pursley was high on crack cocaine, had known mental health problems and was inside the residence with his 88-year-old grandmother.
BRPD Chief Thomas Morse summarized the killing in a statement when the department released police body camera footage of the shooting, saying that Pursley lunged at officers while armed with a pair of scissors.
“I have shared the video with representatives of the family and my condolences go out to them, as it is tragic whenever a life is lost under any circumstances,” Morse said at the time. “Both Officers involved are currently on administrative leave, per Department policy. More updates will be released as the investigation continues.”
That investigation involved reviewing body camera footage, reinterviewing witnesses, examining the service weapons involved, and seeing if “anything could have been done different,” according to Sgt. L’Jean McKneely, BRPD spokesperson.
He described the investigation process as partially “verifying everything we saw in the bodycam,” including whether Pursley did indeed have a dangerous object in his hand.
BRPD’s General Order 131, which outlines the officers’ legitimate usages of deadly force, says deadly force by officers is justified “only in defense of their own lives or in defense of the life of another person.”
“It is essential that the employees reasonably believe that he or some other person is in immediate and apparent danger of suffering death or great bodily harm and that the use of deadly force is the only prudent preventative measure available to him,” the order reads.
Body camera footage
Less than a week after the shooting, BRPD police released an edited summary of body camera footage from the incident.
In it, hooting and shouting can be heard from inside as officers approach the residence. The officers then request backup as well as EMS services.
One officer can be heard saying he is prepping a nonlethal device, in this case a Taser. According to Morse’s statement, the other officer armed himself with his handgun, following BRPD training and policy.
As officers open the door, Pursley can be seen shirtless, in shorts, and carrying a pair of scissors at his side. Officers cannot be heard identifying themselves as police when they enter.
One officer begins to speak to Pursley, saying “Hey Anth- ” before seeing the scissors and yelling for Pursley to drop them. The officer points his Taser. Pursley raises the scissors, pointing them at officers as he yells back something incoherent.
In the seconds before Pursley is shot, he sways back and forth on his feet, refuses to drop the scissors and continues to speak incoherently.
In Morse’s statement, he describes Pursley’s next action as lunging toward officers with the scissors. The video shows this action in slow-motion, with Pursley stepping back before leaning forward.
The edited video highlights how close Pursley’s scissors came to one of the officers, saying they nearly reached him.
In Morse’s statement, he said that both officers were forced to fire their weapons almost simultaneously as Pursley lunged toward them in an “apparent attack.”
Previous statements from police characterized the shooting as having followed the use of a Taser that failed to subdue Pursley.
In the video, the officers report shots fired and begin to administer emergency medical aid to Pursley. One officer opens and applies a “vented chest seal,” a special plastic bandage meant to be applied to both an entry and exit wound to the abdomen.
Officers can be heard saying “C’mon Anthony, stay with me” while requesting EMS to arrive sooner.
Text over the video says officers continued to apply CPR for approximately eight minutes until EMS arrived. Pursley was pronounced dead at the scene.