Body cam footage released: Deadly force not justified in officer-involved shooting of Titusville man
Almost six months after an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of Titusville resident James Lowery, police completed their internal review and released the body cam footage of the incident Thursday with a statement saying they determined the officer was not justified in using deadly force.
The 10-minute video includes a narration of what was happening before and after the dash cam video, a 911 call and annotated descriptions and voiceovers from police, as well as a concluding message from Police Chief John Lau.
On Dec. 26, 2021 at about 7 p.m., Titusville police were called to the area of South DeLeon Avenue between Zephyr Lane and Queen Street in regard to a domestic dispute. Prior to the incident with Lowery, 40, two suspects matching a description given by 911 callers were stopped and released, police said in the video released Thursday.
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Officer Joshua Payne attempted to stop Lowery on Craig Avenue, believing he matched the description of the suspect, body cam footage shows. Lowery fled, and Payne pursued, discharging his Taser five times during the brief chase.
As he ran, Lowery pulled a bag from his pocket and tossed it on the ground, with Payne telling him to stop reaching in his pocket. While still holding his Taser in his right hand, Payne drew his gun with the other. The two came to a fence, where Lowery turned and reached to grab the Taser. As he attempted to jump over the fence, Payne shot him.
Lowery was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police determined he was not involved in the domestic dispute.
Natalie Jackson, an Orlando-based civil attorney representing Lowery's family, said the family is devastated and frustrated by lack of information they've been given over the past six months and what she described as a changing narrative.
"Initially they said, there was a fight, there was a struggle, and that's not true," she said. "Now it comes out that everything they thought about his character and not fighting the police officer and not beating women — that's absolutely true, that none of that happened."
A criminal investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded in Payne being charged with manslaughter June 1, the day he resigned from his position at Titusville Police Department. He bonded out of Brevard County Jail within hours of turning himself in.
"Officer Josh Payne was found to have violated several department general orders to include unnecessary use of deadly force," Lau said in a video statement.
He said their training states that if a technique is not working, officers are to change their approach. Payne violated this when deploying his Taser five times in a period of a little over 45 seconds. Additionally, officers are not to use both a gun and a Taser at the same time.
"Although Officer Payne's decision to draw his firearm based on Mr. Lowery's actions was sound, our training specifically addresses transitioning from one tool to another," Lau said. "At no time do we train our officers to operate both Taser and a firearm at the same time."
Though police determined Payne was not justified in his use of deadly force, Lau said investigators believe the shot was an accident.
"When looking at the totality of these circumstances, we believe Officer Payne did not intend for his firearm to be discharged, which is also a severe violation of the policies covering firearm safety rules," Lau said.
Lau said Payne had a right to stop Lowery based on him matching the description of the suspect and that Lowery's "decision to run away from Officer Payne and physically resist his lawful orders to stop also contributed to this incident."
Jackson said the family felt that race was a factor in why the situation escalated so quickly.
"It seems as though the escalation and the violence tends to happen when there's a Black male," Jackson said. "We see it day in and day out, and people are frustrated by it, that this is happening to Black men when they're walking away, when they're running away, when they're unarmed."
In the video release and a written statement, police said investigators believed Lowery's decision to run was influenced by the 43 grams of fentanyl and 24 grams of oxycodone he was carrying.
Jackson said Lowery's family felt that the attention to the fact that he was carrying drugs was "part of the continuing demonization" of him by law enforcement, saying the drugs were not a factor in the shooting.
"Even if he did have drugs, that's no reason to shoot and kill him," she said. "A police officer's job is not to be judge and jury and executioner on the street. We have to get away from this, you know, (attitude of) 'everyone has to be perfect to deserve life.' That's not true."
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Titusville police release body cam footage of officer-involved shooting
