Bodycam Video: Officers Fire at Man Carrying Hatchet, Metal Pipe

Warning: Disturbing footage

Body camera footage released by the San Jose Police Department shows an officer shooting at a mentally ill man who was carrying an ax.

Thompson Nguyen, 27, according to family members, was struggling with mental illness and displayed paranoia and exhibited violent behavior against his family, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Oct. 23.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a report, “Any reasonable officer would conclude that Nguyen, whether as a result of a mental health issue or not, had decided that he was going to die that day and that if he had to attack an officer with a weapon to make it happen, he was going to do so.”

They added that Nguyen thought “the government was using electricity to control peoples’ minds.”

He drove to the Metcalf Energy Center in January armed with two hatchets, three pipes, seven knives, nunchucks, a sword, and a GoPro camera, CBS San Francisco reported.

In the confrontation, Nguyen told officers to shoot him. “We don’t want to shoot,” said one officer.

When he didn’t respond to their commands, he approached officers with a hatchet and a metal pole. Two officers fired several shots at him.

They fired on him when he got within striking range of his weapons, ABC7 reported.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by San Jose Fire Paramedics at 5:37 p.m., CBS reported.

According to the district attorney’s report, officers found a fake police badge as well as journals in Nguyen’s car. In one of the journals, he claimed that Metcalf employees had placed microchips in his brain, ABC7 reported.