Body camera images and audio of a call to 911 the night a 17-year-old was shot and killed by Chattanooga police demonstrate the teen was armed, according to Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp.
Police have said David Mendez Lopez pointed a gun at officers twice while they were responding to a reported domestic dispute at his home Sept. 3, prompting them to shoot at him.
But Mendez Lopez’s family said the teen was holding a phone — not a gun — when he was shot, according to a statement issued Sept. 14 through community groups Semillas TN and Concerned Citizens for Justice.
Wamp on Tuesday provided to the Chattanooga Times Free Press images taken from officers’ body cameras, which she said show Mendez Lopez holding a pistol equipped with a purple or blue laser.