Death of Ryan LeRoux stresses need for ‘alternative responses’ to mental health crises, Montgomery County City Council says
Maryland authorities played body camera video at a press conference Tuesday of the fatal officer-involved shooting of a Black man allegedly seen with a weapon in his vehicle at a McDonald’s drive-thru.
Speaking while the video played on a projector screen, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones narrated a 28-minute-long compilation of body camera footage excerpts and a recorded phone call between police and the driver, 21-year-old Ryan LeRoux, before the July 16 shooting in Gaithersburg. Police responded to a call about a McDonald’s customer who refused to pay or remove his vehicle from the drive-thru.
Jones said officers who initially arrived at the scene saw a handgun in the front passenger seat and called for backup when LeRoux refused their commands to step out of the vehicle. A half-hour standoff ensued.