Body camera video released of fatal supermarket shooting of man who charged at L.A. deputies with machete

Surveillance video and body camera footage were released of a fatal shooting involving Los Angeles County deputies and a 38-year-old man armed with two machetes inside of a supermarket.

The edited videos were released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Feb. 6 confrontation at Albertsons supermarket, which ended in the death of Jonathan Scott Foster, remains under investigation.

The incident began around 3:45 a.m. when Foster entered a convenience store in Lancaster, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, armed with a machete, the sheriff's department said in a critical incident video on YouTube.

Store surveillance video shows Foster smashing the glass door, climbing inside and attacking a store employee behind the counter. The employee was able to get away and is seen in the video running out of the store.

By the time deputies arrived, Foster had fled the store, according to authorities. The sheriff’s department said the employee had a severe laceration on her hand and was treated at the hospital.

Deputies notified nearby businesses of what happened and instructed them to call 911 if they saw anyone that fit Foster's description, the sheriff's department said.

Hours later, around 9:30 a.m., a 911 call came in from a business several blocks away about a man inside the store with a machete.

When deputies arrived, Foster was at the entrance of the store and was holding the weapon, the sheriff's department said.

Body camera video shows deputies repeatedly asking Foster to put down his weapon. The sheriff's department said Foster refused.

"You drew your weapon," Foster says to one deputy.

"You got the machete in your hand. Do me a favor, set it down," the deputy responds as he points his firearm at Foster.

"At this point, you're not in trouble I just need you to set it down so we can talk," the deputy says.

As deputies continue to tell Foster to drop his weapon, he pulls out a second machete, the video shows. A deputy tells someone off-camera to radio inside the store that everyone needs to "get down."

"Please set your stuff down, man," one of the deputies says to Foster. "What's your name?"

At one point, the deputy talking to Foster puts his firearm away and switches to his Taser, the video shows. Foster holsters one of his machetes but refuses to drop the other one, saying it's for his protection.

The video shows that deputies outside the store asked Foster more than 20 times to drop his weapon and repeatedly told him not to enter the store.

Still refusing their commands, Foster backed into the store and deputies deployed less lethal means including stun guns and foam projectile rounds.

The sheriff's department said the less lethal means were not effective because of the thick jacket Foster was wearing.

The situation escalated, according to the sheriff's department, when Foster "charged towards deputies with the machete raised above his head."

Three deputies discharged their firearms, fatally wounding Foster. He had two machetes about 24 inches in length, authorities said.

The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff's department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.