Channel 13 is learning more from the police body cam footage taken the day before Brandon Durham was shot and killed by a Metro police officer.
We found that the same officer responded to the home just about 24 hours earlier and encountered Durham and the person accused of breaking into his house.
We return to the two retired police officers who are helping us understand this case from a law enforcement perspective and are now analyzing the new video.
His police body camera footage is from Metro's first call to Brandon Durham's home about 24 hours before he was killed.
Durham called the police, asking for help to remove Alejandra Boudreaux. He told police he let her stay the night, but now she was refusing to leave.
Officer Alexander Bookman and another officer spent about 45 minutes at Durham's house while Boudreaux gathered her belongings and eventually left.
I watched the video with Joe Blaettler, the retired Deputy Chief of Police for Union City, New Jersey, and the current owner of East Coast Private Investigators.
Abel: “How do you think that influences this police officer the next day when there is another call at that same residence?”
Joseph: “Well, I think, logically speaking, you would think he realized he was dealing with the same people. That's number one. So, going into it, he had contact 24 hours earlier. He knows who the players are. But is he computing that because it happened so quickly?”
Fast forward to the next night — police body camera video shows Durham in his underwear, struggling with Boudreaux, who was reportedly armed with a knife.
Once again, Officer Bookman responded to the scene. This time, giving a command to drop the knife — he then fired six shots, killing Durham.
Joseph: “The first night he goes there, the situation is not chaotic. The next night now becomes more chaotic. So now that completely elevates it to another level for the police officer.”
The new body-worn camera footage also offers insight into what was going through 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux's mind just hours before she told police she broke
into Durham's house, hoping an officer would shoot her.
I also asked retired Hobbs, the New Mexico Police Officer Antonio De La Fuente to give me his thoughts on the video.
Abel: “How does this prior situation possibly influence a police officer’s decision the next day when they have to return to the same location?”
Antonio: “Honestly, it's not supposed to influence them in any way possible. We're supposed to be unbiased regardless of what's going on."
Antonio: “What a lot of people don't understand is that when it comes to incidents and use of force, especially deadly force, officers have to make split-second decisions.”
Joseph: "The two main questions people are asking is who did he shoot and who was his intended target.
