On Wednesday, police released body camera video recorded during the police-involved fatal shooting of Michael Pierce, Jr., eight months ago. Pierce's family has been seeking access to all of the footage since the Sept. 20, 2015, incident with the Harrisonburg Police Department.

We're now finding out more about the moments leading up to Pierce's death. Police in Harrisonburg wear shoulder-mounted cameras. On the same day the videos were released, WHSV's Isabel Rosales watched all of the footage with officers.

Recordings included 911 calls, public safety radio traffic, and the police body-camera videos. Of all the media released, six were body camera videos. Police said 13 minutes of video (not involving direct contact with Pierce) were withheld for tactical reasons. Video stopped when responders were applying medical aid to Pierce.

The 911 callers told responders that a man had a gun and he had pointed it at another person's head. Overall, the media files shed more light on Pierce's state of mind and also how officers interacted with him before firing their guns.

Police said Pierce had been partying in the apartment and a dispute broke out. Officers say, Pierce eventually returned to the apartment with a gun. The first 911 call came it at 2:15 a.m., and the whole police involvement took 17 minutes, police said. Of the time on scene, 13 minutes involved staging and getting into position. The actual up-close confrontation was perhaps three-and-half minutes.

Twelve police officers surrounded the apartments on Park Road in Harrisonburg's Park View neighborhood

We can hear police repeatedly shout: "Put down the weapon!"

Police said Pierce refused those commands. The videos recorded police shouting: "You reach for that gun, you

will

be shot!"

At one point, Pierce responded, "Who says I have a gun?"

Police replied that they could see the gun.

Police said the toxicology report later showed his blood alcohol level was about three times the legal limit.

Police shout: "Put your hands up!"

Video also recorded police speaking with each other, saying things like: "(He's) not stepping away from gun," "He's got it in his hands," and "He's moving!"

FBI technicians have been hoping to clean up some of the audio, which in places is unclear. HPD says it's unlikely they'll be successful.

According to investigators, Pierce fired the first round toward officers. They say the weapon was cocked to be fired but no new round was chambered.

Police said officers heard his gun go off. A spent shell was recovered at the scene. Police said he was in a shooting stance and had the gun in his hand while aiming toward police when he was shot.

Police told WHSV that officers carried a beanbag shotgun at one point, but it was too far out of range to have any use. Police also said in an emergency involving a firearm being brandished, it would

not

be typical to try using non-lethal measures.

Six of the twelve responding officers were wearing body cameras. Police said the other six responded without cameras because those officers had rushed to the scene right as they were about to clock out for the night. Police said the officer who fired the fatal round was part of the second wave of responding police; and therefore, the officer was not wearing a camera.

Three officers fired a total of five rounds. One officer's gun malfunctioned. One round struck Pierce and killed him.

The video was grainy and during night-time. It did not clearly show Pierce holding the gun.

Before Wednesday, there were limited details regarding the interaction between police and Pierce. Also, none of these videos had been released to the public.

The disclosures came after eight months of his father, Michael Pierce, Senior, pressuring the department to release it --at times with help from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

Michael Pierce, Senior, spoke with WHSV during a special report

during which he said police had only let him see one of the six videos. He said he asked to see all of the footage, but his requests were all denied.

On Tuesday, May 3, 2015, the day before the public release, he was allowed to watch all six videos. We spoke with him again Wednesday and he said his family now has closure.

Michael Pierce, Senior, said: "Nobody wants to take another person's life. I really believe that no one wants to take someone else's life. And I think Michael made some really bad choices that night, he really made a lot of bad choices that night. And he paid for it with his life."

He added that if something like this were to happen again, he hopes the police will use this shooting as a teachable moment including, publicly releasing all body camera footage, releasing officers' names, and also conducting a third-party investigation.

In today's interview, Pierce said he was told the officers involved have gotten death threats. When WHSV's Isabel Rosales asked Lieutenant Kurt Boshart to confirm this detail, he would not comment.

The name of the officers involved will not be released.

WHSV on Wednesday asked HPD leaders if they believed any officers broke any policies. They would not comment citing the topic "a personnel issue."

Michael Pierce, Senior, said that since the start of his push to get the videos, he just needed to see what happened and he would accept it. He said he is now satisfied and his family can begin to move on.

Michael Pierce, Senior, also shared a written statement:

To whom it may concern, After many months of anticipation and through tireless efforts of many people, Nicole and I were able to view the body camera footage from the night that Michael was killed. We were allowed to hear all of the 911 calls and police traffic from that ill-fated night, and allowed to view all angles from the six officers that were present with body cameras. The viewing of the videos and tapes showed to us that the Harrisonburg Police Department handled themselves in a professional manner in this case. The family would like to say that the officers that were called to the scene did all that they could before Michael was fatally shot. We would also like to say that we understand that these officers are living with this situation, as well as my family and we sympathize with their feelings of taking another person’s life. As for the department, the openness that was shown to my wife and I today was much appreciated. While our minds and hearts may be able to rest a little easier, our hopes are that the police department never has the need to address a situation such as this again. We hope that the death of Michael Thomas Pierce, Jr. will in some way help in strengthening the communication between government and its people. Communication is a wonderful avenue to express your concerns and grievances, but the lack of communication only causes ill will and conjecture. In closing, we hope and pray that no other family in this community goes through a night like my family endured on September 20, 2015. We only hope that the officers, police department, mayor’s office and the Commonwealth attorney’s office learns from this situation and communicates better with families of victims in matters such as this in the future. Thank you, The family of Michael T. Pierce

WHSV's past coverage of the incident is online