Lorain Police release body camera footage of US Marshals fatal shooting of Lorain man

Warning: Violent content and profanity. LORAIN — Lorain Police released the body-worn camera footage from the U.S. Marshals' shooting of a man during a warrant service in the city last week. During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann gave an overview of the incident that occurred shortly after 8 a.m. April 18 in which members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force shot and killed Derrick Smith, 34, of Lorain. Members of the task force were reportedly attempting to serve a warrant at 911 W. 21st St. for a parole violation. Smith attacked officers with a table leg and knife, stabbing one of the task force members several times in the back of the neck, according to video footage released Thursday. McCann prefaced the video, stating the whole incident "took place in a matter of seconds." Further information on Smith's alleged parole violation was not available on Thursday. The fully released video shows task force members walking up to the house just before 8 a.m. April 18. They knocked on the door and when a woman answered, one man said, "Hello, it's us again. We need to talk to Derrick." The woman, identified by the officer wearing the released body camera as Smith's grandmother, called up to Smith several times but he did not come down and repeatedly told him to come out of his room before officers attempted to arrest him. "He still ain't came out that room?" she asked. When an officer told her no, she replied, "He knew this was coming when he said he wasn't going to court." An officer also called up to Smith and told him his probation officer sent them. Officers can be heard stating Smith had barricaded himself in his room and refused to open it. Another officer can be heard stating Smith told officers he would fight them. Before they attempted to break down the door to Smith's bedroom, an officer appeared to try to negotiate with him, telling him "all he has (a missed) a court hearing." Smith told him he did not want to hear it. The officer replied, "OK, so be it." After the shooting, a woman can be heard screaming but she is not visible on the released footage. McCann narrated a portion of the video, noting officers deployed a Taser twice in an attempt to subdue Smith. He would not answer whether the Taser struck Smith, stating it was part of the "investigative process" and would not be discussed during Thursday's news conference. "We are reporting no facts of the investigation, only the video that is public record," McCann said. Smith was in a small second-floor bedroom when officers attempted the warrant service. The video footage released was from one of the officers toward the back of the line of individuals who went into the room. Video footage showed Smith wildly swinging the table leg at officers and, once an officer pinned the table leg between his ballistic shield and the wall in the hallway, Smith appeared to attack the officer with a knife. The table leg was initially thought to be a baseball bat due to its size and how Smith was wielding it, McCann said. Smith struck two other officers with the table leg, and the knife was still in his hand, according to the video footage. Once back in the bedroom, Smith can be seen in the corner of the small room, still wielding the table leg and knife. An officer grabbed a ballistic shield that had been dropped in the altercation and attempted to put it between himself and Smith, McCann said, "That should also show you how chaotic it was up there," McCann said. It appeared the officer had lowered his gun until Smith brandished the knife again. The officer shot Smith several times. According to Lorain County Coroner Dr. Frank Miller, Smith was shot in the head, both arms and torso. After the shooting, task force members can be seen checking on one another. Smith can be seen lying on the floor of the bedroom. Officers cuffed Smith about a minute after he was shot and an officer can be seen wiping Smith's blood off his ungloved hand and onto a nearby dresser. Task force members do not appear to attempt to administer first aid to Smith. It appeared to be several minutes after the shooting when emergency medical services arrived. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. Three members of the task force were taken to Mercy Health - Lorain and were treated for their injuries and released. The body camera footage was edited by the U.S. Marshals Service to redact officers' names and faces. McCann said further information would be released after the Lorain, Elyria and Amherst police departments finished their joint investigation. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.