Utah police have released body-camera footage showing a 4-year-old shooting at police at a McDonald’s drive-thru after his father told him to.
The incident, which took place on Feb. 12 in Midvale, Utah, began when officers responded to a call about a man brandishing a firearm at the restaurant after he said employees got his order wrong.
Police approached Sadaat Johnson, 27, as he sat in his car. They asked him to get out of the car and Johnson refused, according to police.
In a news release, police said officers approached the vehicle, “issuing several verbal commands to the male to exit the vehicle, he did not cooperate. Officers opened the vehicle door and pulled the male from the car. While taking the male into custody, an officer turned back toward the vehicle and saw a gun pointing out from the rear window.”
The officer who saw the gun yelled to other officers that there was a gun while swiping the weapon to the side as a round was fired, police said. “The officer recognized the young age of the individual with the firearm and yelled out “kid” to the other officers.”
“The child who fired the weapon was 4 years old and was in the backseat of the car with a 3-year-old sibling,” according to the news release. “Information collected during this ongoing investigation indicates that the father of the child told the child to shoot at the police.”
In body-camera footage of the arrest, police can be heard telling two children in the car that “It’s OK” after the single shot was fired.
The police officer who knocked the gun aside suffered a minor injury.
Court records obtained by FOX 13 in Salt Lake City revealed that the child shot at officers because “he wanted his daddy back.”
Johnson was charged with child abuse, aggravated assault and interference with an arresting officer after the incident, according to FOX 13.
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