A Superior Court judge has ordered CMPD to release video of a fatal police shooting earlier this month. CMPD said officers shot and killed Rueben Galindo on September 6 after Galindo refused orders to drop a handgun. In previously-released police radio recordings of the incident, a dispatcher tells officers that Galindo said the gun contained no bullets.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office is still investigating the shooting. According to the Charlotte Observer this is the first time a judge has ruled to release footage from a video before an investigation is complete.
The newspaper reports Superior Court Judge Todd Pomeroy said Thursday he was following state law in ordering that the police video footage be released on October 6. Copies of the video will initially be given to the Charlotte Observer and to activist Robert Dawkins, with the group Action NC. Dawkins and the newspaper both filed requests for the video. CMPD will then publicly release the video.