Bodycam footage of deadly Long Beach police shooting on church steps released

 Long Beach police have released body camera footage of a shooting that left a man dead at the end of an hours-long standoff in front of a church in November. 

On Nov. 19 at around 3:15 p.m., officers were sent to the 5200 block of Atlantic Avenue for reports of a man who was armed with a gun while sitting on the steps of Iglesia de Cristo Miel, according to a release from the Long Beach Police Department. The person who texted 911 was 38-year-old Brandon Boyd, the man who was eventually killed. 

Boyd told police that he sent the text when they arrived at the location. 

They say that he appeared to be hiding something but would not tell them if he was armed or not. It was just part of what ended up being a two-and-half hour situation with police calling a hostage negotiator and a Mental Evaluation Team to the scene. They say that Boyd remained uncooperative with their attempts to deescalate the incident, leading them to also call a SWAT team. 

In the video that LBPD released on Saturday, Boyd can be heard making such comments, as well as the police attempts to deescalate. 

Bodycam footage shows officers deploying a flash-bang device and shooting at Boyd with less-than-lethal foam ammunition. Afterwards, it appears that Boyd grabs a firearm and points it in the officers direction. 

Officers say that Boyd made "suicidal comments" during their exchanges and that he eventually produced a firearm and fired shots at them, prompting an exchange of gunfire with the man and four LBPD officers. 

Despite attempts to render aid at the scene, Boyd died at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, police said. 

Watch: Friends and family say police wrongfully shot and killed man outside of Long Beach church

Surveillance footage from inside of the church appears to show Boyd opening fire towards the police. 

Police say that they recovered a firearm at the scene and that one of the officers was struck in the arm by gunfire. He was briefly hospitalized before being treated and released. 

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson issued a statement on the release of the video Saturday. 

"I acknowledge the deep pain, grief, and strong emotions that the events of the night of November 19th has caused many in our community, members of the Boyd family, our first responders. As we confront this moment, it is essential that we remain committed to supporting transparency, accountability, and the process of justice," Richardson's statement said. 

The mayor says that he has been in communication with LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish and has advocated for the timely release of "critical documents" to ensure that police provide clarity and maintain trust with the public. 

"While we understand the urgency felt by some, we also recognize the importance of following the established legal processes and guidelines to ensure a fair and accurate review takes place and public trust in our systems is preserved," Richardson said. 

He further noted that there a multi-layer investigation into the incident remains in place both by the police department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Friends and family of Boyd were unavailable for comment on Saturday.

Black Lives Matter Long Beach Chapter shared a statement upon request, which read in part, "What you see in the edited video LBPD released is 17 and half minutes of the more than two and half hours of interactions between LBPD and Brandon Boyd. It shows what the family and other witnesses have been saying: Brandon was in distress, sought help and the LBPD escalated the situation. Even in the short clip that LBPD put out, it is clear that in the moments before his life was stolen, Brandon was deescalating himself with his hands clearly out in front of himself. LBPD and  SWAT escalated with the flash bang and gunshots, leaving Brandon deceased."