Shocking video 'captures cops shooting dead an unarmed and handcuffed man, 23, then planting a gun beside him'

Graphic new cellphone video has emerged which appears to show cops shooting dead a 23-year-old cyclist as he lay handcuffed on the ground.

Noel Aguilar was killed by Los Angeles County deputies Albert Murad and Jose Ruiz in 2014 who claimed that they shot him after he tried to grab one of their guns. They also alleged Aguilar had a loaded weapon.

Now footage of the incident, dropped off anonymously at the attorney's office for the suspect's family, appears to show the two officers shooting Aguilar while he was lying face down on the ground with his hands cuffed behind him.

Attorney for the family, Humberto Guizar, said the video is 'clear evidence of an execution, a murder.'

Guizar also claims footage shows one of the deputies planting a weapon on the ground next to Aguilar before taking out another gun and shooting him, the Press Telegram reports.

The lawyer, who has filed a suit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the two deputies, has now released the video to the public.

The incident began in May, 2014, when deputies Murad and Ruizi pulled over Aguilar, who was riding a bicycle. It is not clear why they decided to stop the cyclist.

Aguilar tried to flee from the officers who caught up with the 23-year-old and pinned him to the floor in Long Beach.

Cellphone footage then shows the two deputies grappling with the suspect on the ground before one warns the young man that if he moves, 'I'm going to kill you.'

Sheriff's officials say Aguilar reached for one of the deputies' guns although this is not clear in the video.

The next moment, one of the officers complained 'I've been shot.'  It was later discovered that the officer was shot with his partner's gun.

Aguilar is heard insisting that he had not shot anyone and asks to know why one of the officers was pulling a gun on him.

The deputy who had been shot in the abdomen then shot the suspect three times in his back as he lay on the ground.

Guizar condemned the police's actions as an 'execution.' The attorney said that not had the officers shot Aguilar, but they continued to restrain him with one officer 'putting all his weight on top of him' while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

The department's Internal Affairs Bureau has now completed its investigation into the shooting.

Findings will be presented to the Executive Force Review Committee in January which will decide if the incident breached any laws or police policies.

Both Murad and Ruizi have already returned to field duty.

Aguilar's devastated fiance Mary Herrera was pregnant with Aguilar's now 1-year-old daughter when he was killed.  She told NBC her fiance had not been resisting arrest or posing a threat when he was shot.  'It just breaks my heart to see that and one day my daughter is going to have to see that,' Herrera added.

Original report here


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