Valencia

Video Shows Confrontation Before Deadly Deputy Shooting Outside Valencia Mall

Deputies responded to the shopping center late Jan. 11 after a report of trespassing outside a Macy's store.

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Video from a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy's body-worn camera captured the moments leading up to a deadly shooting in January at a Southern California shopping center.

The shooting was reported late Jan. 11 outside a Macy's store at Westfield Valencia Town Center.

Deputies responded at about 11 p.m. to a trespassing report at the shopping center in the 24000 block of Valencia Boulevard. The mall was closed at the time.

A 911 caller told authorities that the man refused to leave and made threats to employees at the shopping center.

"He just basically wants to start a fight whenever we go up to him to try to make him leave," the caller said. "He just says the only way I'm going to get out of here is if I put one of you into a chokehold and stuff like that."

The man was later identified as 50-year-old Christopher Lee Mercurio.

Security camera video showed Mercurio, seated by a mall entrance, approach a deputy arriving in a SUV. The deputy told Mercurio about the information provided to authorities in the 911 call, the sheriff's department said.

Mercurio responded that he would kill anyone who tried to make him leave, the agency said. He can be heard telling the deputy, "I'm going to f--- your ass up b----.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy shot a man dead after being assaulted by the man while reporting to a trespassing call at the Valencia Mall, the sheriff's department said. Bailey Miller reports Jan. 12, 2023.

The deputy can be heard repeatedly asking Mercurio to step back as he stepped toward her. He then punched her in the face and head, the sheriff's department said.

The deputy can be heard reporting that she is in a fight. As the man advanced, she can be heard repeatedly telling him that she will shoot if he comes any closer.

After shots are fired, Mercurio walked back to sleeping bags by the store entrance and collapsed. He was taken to a hospital and later died.

The full body-worm camera video was posted to the sheriff's department YouTube page.

The California Department of Justice is investigating the shooting.

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