The San Luis Obispo Police Department released a two hour-long video on Friday of last week’s fatal police shooting.
A press release from the department identified 69-year-old Willie Felton Foster Jr. as the man who was shot and killed by an officer on February 28, near French Park in San Luis Obispo.
The released video shows Foster kneeling in front of a police car and pointing a fake handgun at the responding officers, who yell at him to stop.
Then, an officer shoots Foster once. He was declared dead at the scene.
Before the shooting, police say they received 911 calls reporting a “black male wearing dark clothing,” acting erratically and holding what looked like a gun.
The SLO Police Department has released the transcripts of those 911 calls, which show that some callers saw Foster yell and threaten people walking by in the Arbors neighborhood of San Luis Obispo.
A minute before he was shot, one caller said they knew Foster but couldn’t remember his name, and that he was having an episode.
“[H]e has a toy gun with him,” the caller said, clarifying that they got a close look at the fake weapon. “It is not real, but I am worried someone is going to really freak out.”
The San Luis Obispo Tribune also described Foster as “unhoused.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said the Department of Justice is investigating the shooting, in compliance with state law.
