Body-cam video released in deadly San Leandro police shooting

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - San Leandro police released body-cam footage Wednesday of a deadly shooting by police that killed a man armed with a baseball bat inside a Walmart store.

A 911 call from Walmart security brought police to the store on Hesperian Boulevard on Saturday afternoon. Cell-phone video captured the initial scene.

"He has a bat with him. He has it in the air, um, threatening to hit an associate with it," a store security official told a dispatcher during the call.

Police body-cam video shows Steven Taylor, 33, armed with the bat. A family attorney said Taylor was schizophrenic and bipolar.

The first officer to arrive asked Taylor to drop the bat and came close to removing it.

"Mr. Taylor was ordered multiple times to put down the weapon, but he did not comply," said San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor.

Taylor suddenly pulled the bat away.

"Drop the bat, man!" the officer told Taylor.

New cell phone video shows the officer tasing Taylor, but police say he fought through it.

"When an officer deployed a taser, it was ineffective, and Mr. Taylor continued to approach the officer while wielding the baseball bat," Tudor said.

The officer tased Taylor a second time and also fired his gun, shooting Taylor once in the chest.

"Shots fired! Shots fired," the officer radioed in to dispatch.

A second officer arrived at this point and also tased Taylor.

Taylor dropped the bat after being shot.

He was tased again and dropped to the ground.

 Vance Piggott, an attorney for the officers told KTVU that lethal force was used because the Taser deployment didn't stop Taylor.

In a statement, Paggott said, "Taylor slightly but continued to fight through this second cycle and advance toward the officer with the bat still in a position to strike the officer."

The attorney said "both officers were justified in their actions."

The names of the officers weren't released Wednesday. The department said it was withholding them because threats had been made against the officers. 

The Alameda County district attorney's office will determine whether the officers' actions were justified.