Dramatic Dashcam Video Shows Moments Before 21-Year-Old Was Fatally Shot by Police

Police fatally shot the suspect after he shot an officer while resisting arrest.

ByABC News
February 17, 2016, 6:14 PM

— -- Dramatic dashcam video released by police Monday caught the moments before a simple misdemeanor arrest turned deadly when a 21-year-old man, who shot one of the officers, was then fatally shot by authorities in South Carolina last November.

In the video, two officers in Cayce, South Carolina, can be seen talking with Demetrius Bryant, when they discover a small bag of marijuana in his pocket. One officer tells the 21-year-old that it's a misdemeanor offense. But as they attempt to put his hands behind his back, urging Bryant not to tense up, the situation escalates. When the officer tells Bryant he is being charged with resisting arrest, Bryant pulls a gun on the arresting officers from his back pocket.

Bryant then fires the weapon at the officers and flees. One of the officers can be seen chasing Bryant between two buildings, where police say he was shot twice and killed.

The two police officers involved in the incident won't be charged in Bryant's death, the Cayce Department of Public Safety said in a press release.

There was a "lack of any sufficient evidence that would support criminal charges against our officers," the department said.

One of the officers was shot in his upper left leg during the incident, said Sgt. Evan Antley, public information officer with the Cayce Department of Public Safety. The injury was not life-threatening.

Bryant had been found guilty of marijuana possession of one ounce or less in October 2014, a public index for Richland County shows.