LUBBOCK, Texas — It was a tough, emotional day in court as body camera footage was played from the night of Officer Floyd East’s fatal shooting. Officer East’s family was in tears and stepped out of the courtroom to avoid seeing and hearing the gruesome shooting.
Body camera footage showed Texas Tech Sergeant Snelson clearing the rooms at the Tech Police Department after Daniels shot Officer East and fled. Officer East was seen lying on the ground, with Lubbock Police asking if Daniels was patted down fully, Sergeant Snelson was heard replying “Not enough, apparently.”
Daniels was patted down twice before being taken to the Tech Police Department, but it is still unclear at what moment he concealed the stolen gun.
Once the hearing moved forward, only those on the legal team and jurors were allowed to see Officer East’s body camera footage from his final moments. Audio was played out for the rest of the courtroom where Daniels can be heard asking Officer East “Do you have any family at home?” Officer East replied, “Yes.” Daniels then shot Officer East in the head at point blank range, took the body camera and ran.
During the arrest, Daniels spits on a Lubbock Police Officer, Officers testifying that Daniels said, “You know you want to shoot me,” along with “Put it in my head,” and “F*** the police. I know you want to shoot me.” The officer then stood down for contamination from bodily fluids and reported to University Medical Center to wash his eyes and run blood tests.
Tech officers took the stand and said they miss Officer East’s presence in the Department. “He told me he received his transfer back to El Paso where his family was and was excited about it and I was excited for him,” said Bennie Edwards, Former Detective at the Texas Tech Police Department.
On the first day of Hollis Daniels’s trial, his Defense team stated that Daniels no longer remembers moments from the shooting.
The sentencing phase of the trial was scheduled to resume at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday.
