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The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage on Friday of the deadly officer-involved shooting of Texas Tech student Erskin Jenkins, 20, that took place in November.

On November 23 around 10:15 p.m., LCSO and Wolfforth Police were called to the 400 block of 14th Street for a disturbance involving an armed person. Authorities said Jenkins was threatening others in the residence. While evacuating the occupants, LCSO said Jenkins brandished a weapon, and a deputy shot him. Jenkins died at the scene.

Records were withheld and suddenly released

EverythingLubbock.com previously requested the video and a report of the incident and in June received a letter from an attorney representing the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office seeking to withhold the records. The letter cited several exemptions under the Texas Government Code, including parts that classify certain law enforcement and homeland security information as confidential. The letter argued releasing the information could interfere with ongoing investigations and compromise law enforcement techniques and procedures.

On June 25, video footage and a redacted reported of the incident were released to a single news station at the decision of Sheriff Kelly Rowe, not in response to any record requests. LCSO later released the records to EverythingLubbock.com on July 11. It was not clear why the records were not sent to other media outlets who had submitted requests.

A statement from LCSO explained, “Typically, requests for the names of officers involved in any Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office shooting event are referred to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for review. Our primary reason for requesting this review is to ensure the officer’s safety, especially if that officer has already been investigated by another agency and cleared of wrongdoing.”

EverythingLubbock.com’s initial information request did not ask for the names of the deputies or officers involved in the shooting.

LCSO said in June, while awaiting a ruling from the Attorney General, a “third party released the names of officers and witnesses connected to this event.” LCSO said because of this, withholding the information no longer provided protection. LCSO also said there was false information being spread, and they hoped releasing the information would help provide context.

Texas Ranger report describes details of shooting

  • At 10:16 p.m. – A Texas Ranger report said a 911 caller said they were having a get-together at a residence, and Jenkins was intoxicated. The 911 callers described Jenkins as a “good kid who got too emotional and started waving a gun around.”
  • At 10:24 p.m. – The report said Jenkins was yelling that he “needed to kill people, and there were multiple kids inside the residence.”
  • At 10:29 p.m. – Officers arrived and established a perimeter. The report said four people were inside a bedroom closet, and four people were in the garage.
  • At 10:35 p.m.- The report said Jenkins was observed by officers to be lying on the floor, shaking his head. A minute later, the report said he was aiming a gun at the door and ceiling.
  • At 10:39 p.m. – The report said authorities tried to get a female to safety by breaking a window. A minute later, the report said Jenkins got up with the gun in his hand, and at 10:40 p.m., shots were fired.

The report said an LCSO deputy was positioned at the back door and identified himself as law enforcement.

“However, Jenkins then pointed the gun at [the deputy], who fired multiple rounds with his patrol rifle at Jenkins to stop the threat to life.”

The report also detailed an interview with a resident at the home, who explained originally there were about a dozen people gathered for a “Friendsgiving,” and it grew to about 20 to 30 people. The resident said Jenkins was usually quiet and kept to himself. The resident said Jenkins had been drinking, and “collapsed at one point and started talking nonsense.” The resident said Jenkins was grabbing his own neck and others.

At one point, Jenkins raised his shirt, and the resident said that’s when he saw a gun. The resident said he knew Jenkins carried knives but did not know about him having a gun. At first, everyone ran to the backyard, but eventually Jenkins put the gun down and calmed down, and some people went back inside. The resident said Jenkins was saying concerning things, and at one point told him, “I would kill for you.” At this point, the resident said they separated from Jenkins and called police.

The report indicated an autopsy found that Jenkins had consumed alcohol, but no other substances were found. The report said Jenkins had a BAC of 0.173 at the time of the autopsy. The report said Jenkins had sustained five gunshot wounds.

Shooting seen in body camera footage

LCSO released a video that was provided by the Texas Rangers, which included body camera footage from both Wolfforth and Lubbock officers. The video included a recording of the 911 call made by the resident.

In the video, deputies speak with witnesses and evacuate people from the residence. Witnesses seemed to describe Jenkins as having some sort of mental health issue, as he was telling people about trauma in his life. The video showed the moment shots were fired as authorities were evacuating a woman by breaking a window.

Right before shots were fired, video showed a deputy with a rifle pointed at the back door. As the deputy identified himself, Jenkins was seen getting up with the gun in his hand. As Jenkins got up and raised his right arm that was holding the gun, multiple shots were fired. The video showed text that said, “The officer fired four consecutive rounds and paused. When Jenkins maintained a full grip of the handgun with it still pointing in the direction of the officer, one additional round was fired.”

The video then showed several still frames of Jenkins raising his arm with the gun in his hand.

Family calls for transparency

The following is a statement from the Jenkins family:

While I continue to grieve as a mother, I welcome and now expect transparency and the disclosure of EVERYTHING related to Erskin’s death.  We have been asking for ALL of this information (UNEDITED) since Erskin was killed. I am dismayed – but not surprised – that Lubbock County officials would – without even the courtesy of notifying myself or my counsel of record – reverse course and dump their narrative and partial video on the nightly news. As I have said repeatedly, I simply want to learn what happened to Erskin including during the 24 hours leading up to his tragic death.  I previously begged the Lubbock County District Attorney to investigate the events that led up to the moment Erskin lost his life.  Unfortunately, my requests for a more thorough investigation by the appropriate Lubbock County officials have been ignored.  I am just grateful that we can now at least examine the information collected and conduct a more robust investigation. That said however, I am most upset about how my son has been portrayed by Lubbock County and the news media reports.  Erskin was an amazing, decent, and proud young man who believed that the only thing a man truly has is his good name. Unfortunately, Erskin can no longer speak for himself and defend his good name.  While we move forward and investigate the last 24 hours of his life, I intend to take every opportunity to introduce the real Erskin to anyone and everyone who will listen.

Statement From The Jenkins Family

The deputies involved were cleared by the DA’s Office in March.

https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/video-lubbock-sheriff-releases-footage-of-deadly-deputy-involved-shooting-of-erskin-jenkins/