Video Shows Man Robbing Knife, Stabbing Officer Before Being Fatally Shot: SMPD

SANTA MONICA, CA — Police on Thursday released a series of videos that show the chain of events leading up to a Santa Monica police officer fatally shooting a man after he stabbed him.

The incident began on Oct. 5 just after 5 p.m., when the man — Deyaa Abdelhadi Halaibeh, 28 — entered the Target store at 420 Broadway. After requesting an employee retrieve a kitchen knife set for him, Halaibeh is shown on surveillance footage attacking the employee and running out of the store with the knives, the Santa Monica Police Department said.

Someone shortly after flagged down an SMPD Downtown Services Unit officer to inform them of the robbery, police said.

The box of knives was later found abandoned, with one eight-inch chef's knife missing, police said.

Within 10 minutes, Halaibeh arrived at the SMPD station on Olympic Drive on foot. He walked past people sitting in the courtyard and rang the call button outside the police station, police said.

An officer who was responding to an unrelated matter involving another resident exited the building. Halaibeh began talking to him. The officer told him he had to wait his turn, police said.

Halaibeh is shown in the video with his hand underneath his jacket: Police said he was concealing the eight-inch knife.

"What's in your jacket, I'm kind of nervous with your hand in your jacket," the officer says in body-camera video footage.

"You're nervous?," Halaibeh says before lunging toward the officer.

The compilation includes several videos showing the ensuing struggle between Halaibeh and the officer. Police say the videos show Halaibeh stabbing the officer and the officer's attempts to deescalate the situation before firing multiple shots at Halaibeh.

Halaibeh was pronounced dead at the scene, while the officer was seriously injured, police said.

The officer has not been publicly identified.

Halaibeh was a resident of New York State; his housing status at the time of his death was "unknown." He had no criminal history in California and no prior contacts with Santa Monica police, the SMPD said.

"To abide by state law and, most importantly, to ensure our community is engaged, the SMPD has created a Critical Incident Community Debriefing Video to provide insight into and context for the" incident, police said in a statement.

Watch the debriefing video here — which includes graphic images of violence.