Bodycam video released by the Fort Worth Police Department Wednesday shows police officers under fire as they respond to a call about an armed man holding several people, including children, hostage.
On July 18, officers responded to the Broadmoor Apartments for a woman who called 911 saying she and two children, ages 12 and 15, were being held hostage by a man with a gun.
When they arrived, officers found themselves under fire in the parking lot. They soon made their way up to a third-floor apartment where they tried to get a man inside, later identified by police as 19-year-old Markeyvion Devonte Cannon, to surrender.
Instead, several shots are fired through the door including one that hit a ballistic shield held by one of the officers.
The video also shows officers in the parking lot pinned down and taking cover behind vehicles and inside an armored SWAT transport. One of the suspect's bullets hits the windshield of an officer's squad car, narrowly missing him as he ducks behind it.
What's not in the video is the moment officers realized they couldn't return fire because Cannon was using a child as a human shield. That section was cut out for privacy reasons.
"Because the suspect was using a child as a shield officers could not return fire at that time and they backed away," said interim Chief of Police Ed Kraus last week.
With more gunfire directed at officers outside, SWAT officers eventually decided they had to go in to try to bring the incident to an end.
"They breached the door and encountered the suspect still holding a weapon in close proximity to the children -- at least one shot was fired by our SWAT officers and the suspect was hit," Kraus said.
Cannon, who was hit in the head, was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.
None of the hostages or police were injured. But it was terrifying for witnesses who were trapped nearby, including 15-year-old Brooklyn Brown and her 12-year-old sister Seven Brown.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"Next thing you know, we heard them bust down the door and we heard a bunch of gunshots," Brooklyn said.
The girls were home alone, their oldest sister got stuck downstairs while checking the mail. Their parents were at work.
"I wanted to fall to my knees because it was like I cannot get to her," said their mother Celeste Mcvea.
While the girls hid, McVea heard gunshots through the phone, doing everything she could to get to them but police would not let her through to the dangerous scene.
"But in my head, I was like, Iām going to find a way in there," said Mcvea.
She was especially disturbed when she heard Cannon had held up a child as a human shield.
"I know my kids were safe at the moment, but in my mind it's like that was my child," said Mcvea.
Another neighbor, whose family was fortunately not home at the time, agreed.
"It's unbelievable, it's crazy," said neighbor Anthony Hernandez. "Why would anybody put a child's life in front of theirs?"
Hernandez can't stand to look down the hallway now, remembering what happened there. His family is considering moving away.
But he's grateful Fort Worth Police prevented anyone else from being hurt.
"Police did their jobs right and the only one who came out bad in the end was the villain," Hernandez said.
NBC5's Alice Barr contributed to this report.
