The Oklahoma City Police Department released video on Thursday of an officer shooting and killing a man who said he was schizophrenic.
A woman called police to report Daniel Hobbs was lying in a yard “staring at the clouds.” She said a neighbor held a victim’s protection order against the man. Police later discovered that wasn’t true.
Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Lopez responded to the call. Lopez’s body camera recorded most of the confrontation. Hobbs said he was “trying to make the sky come down.”
Lopez briefly questioned Hobbs who said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that he takes medication every three months. Hobbs said the last time he took his medication was three months earlier.
Lopez asked Hobbs if he had any weapons. Hobbs said "no" and reached for his pocket. Lopez ordered him to stop. The officer told Hobbs he was going to search him for weapons, and tried to handcuff him.
"I didn't do nothing to you. I have done nothing wrong. You’re trying to handcuff me when I have done nothing wrong. I’m looking at the clouds," Hobbs said in the video.
Hobbs wouldn’t let the officer handcuff him and the two began fighting. They fell to the ground and Lopez shot Hobbs after the man took an object police say was the officer’s taser.
Lopez is certified as a Crisis Intervention Team officer. He is on administrative leave.
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