Police have released video of the confrontation that led to officers opening fire on and wounding a man who had what appeared to be a gun last week in Lakeville, Massachusetts.
The body camera video released Tuesday shows the roughly minute-long standoff between the man, Timothy Hladik, and an officer, in which the Lakeville resident can be heard repeating the phrase, "Kill or be killed" before he was wounded Friday night.
Hladik, 45, was wounded in the shooting and appeared by video at a court hearing Monday to face charges from a bed at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and his attorney said the man was expected to be hospitalized for at least a couple of weeks.
The incident started about 3:45 a.m. near the intersection of Precinct and Perkins streets when Hladik approached a Lakeville officer monitoring traffic with what appeared to be a black handgun, police have said. The video shows the officer repeatedly ordering the man to drop his weapon as they circle their cars.
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An off-duty Massachusetts state trooper who was driving by stopped to help the Lakeville officer, and it was he, "perceiving an imminent threat," who first opened fire, prosecutors said in court Monday. Hladik can be heard in the video taunting the officer for missing his shot, then continuing to say, "Kill or be killed."
After several more seconds, Hladik is apparently wounded and moves behind an SUV standing in the road. He isn't seen again.
The Lakeville officer told Hladik to drop his weapon — later found to be a replica gun — a total of about 11 times, prosecutors said, and the trooper about two times, prosecutors said.
Hladik is expected to live, police have said, and he's due for another appearance in court Oct. 12. Neither officer was hurt; both were placed on paid leave as the shooting was investigating, which is standard protocol in such cases.
