Port Saint Joe Police Department in Florida has released body cam footage of an officer-involved shooting that took place two weeks ago.
Law enforcement officials said Tikila Walker, 41, ran at police with a 16-inch fillet knife, causing the officers to open fire in self-defense, WMBB-TV reported.
The police video began with officers tailing Walker’s car through a Florida neighborhood and turning on a siren to pull her over.
Walker had allegedly fled the scene of a crash and wouldn’t allow a repo driver to take her car. She also had expired tags.
During her rampage, police said she was involved in a second incident, committing a hit-and-run, as she evaded police at every turn. The victims of the second hit-and-run did not wish to press charges, however, according to the police video.
Eventually, an officer identified as “Sgt. Morrison” caught up with Walker and spoke to her for 15 minutes. Morrison tried to “de-escalate the situation,” but to no avail.
“They’re trying to repossess your car,” Morrison told Walker. She replied, “They want it, they can come get it.”
Morrison tried to calm Walker down by suggesting she seek assistance, because she appeared to be showing “signs of mental distress,” the video caption read. The officer also asked Walker to pull her car to the side of the road to avoid blocking traffic.
Walker did none of the above. She got back in her car and continued erratically driving. After two more incidents around town involving Walker, things finally came to a head.
The video then cut to two officers, guns drawn and pointed at Walker while she was still in her car. They told her to “put the knife down” before a third officer broke the passenger side window, after trying to open the locked car doors.
Officers tried to subdue her with a taser, but Police Chief Jake Richards said Walker “was unfazed by the attempts,” according to the WMBB report.
The footage then showed multiple angles of Walker trying to exit the driver’s side door after being tased. When she raised her knife and tried to charge at Sgt. Morrison, Walker was shot twice — once by Morrison, and once by another officer.
She was treated at the local hospital for her wounds.
WARNING: The following video contains images that may be disturbing for some viewers.
Onlookers began lamenting the officers’ decision to shoot, but Morrison wasted no time defending herself.
“She came at me with a knife, what the hell did you expect me to do?” she told the bystanders.
When one of the officers tried comforting Walker and telling her she was going to be OK, he rolled her over slightly, revealing the large knife in her hand. The police immediately jumped in and provided first aid before the video ended.
Walker is being held on multiple charges in the Bay County Jail, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Chief Richards said an investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Imagine how these officers would’ve been treated by the media — and their superiors — if the camera footage wasn’t available, or had been obscured in some way?
News outlets would stoke racial tensions, praise Walker as a pillar of the community, and claim the police were just waiting for any opportunity to shoot.
Despite their faults, officers of the law put their lives on the line to protect their communities. This woman appeared to be struggling with some type of psychological issue. At one point, she was speaking pure gibberish.
Add a deadly weapon into the mix, and the officers had no choice.
There may still be calls to defund the police and cries of racism, but the camera doesn’t lie. She was out of control, didn’t cooperate, and could have killed someone.
As Morrison said: What else was she supposed to do?
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