Police in Las Vegas have released body-camera footage showing the final moments before an unarmed fugitive was shot dead by two officers who mistook the cellphone in his hands for a gun.

At a press conference Monday, Metro Undersheriff Kevin McMahill admitted that the New Year's Eve shooting of 23-year-old Keith Childress Jr had been preceded by a series of errors on the part of different branches of law enforcement.

Childress, who was convicted last month of multiple crimes in Arizona, including armed robbery and aggravated assault, died from multiple gunshot wounds on Thursday afternoon when 37-year-old Sgt. Robert Bohanon and 27-year-old Officer Blake Walford opened fire on him after he refused to follow their commands.

Caught on camera: The Las Vegas Metro Police on Monday released a two-and-a-half minute bodycam video showing the final moments before two officers shot dead Keith Childress

Childress, 23, pictured in this screengrab crossing the street in a Las Vegas subdivision, was a fugitive from Arizona

Crucial error: Police said they were assisting US Marshals in capturing Childress, who was mistakenly identified as a suspect in an attempted murder

Police said the officers thought Childress was holding a gun in his right hand, but the item later turned out to be a cellphone.

Bohanon has been with Las Vegas police for 18 years and Walford for more than a year. Both officers have been on paid administrative leave since the incident.

Undersheriff McMahill told reporters that at around 2pm last Thursday, Metro police were called to the Monaco Cove subdivision to assist US Marshals in capturing Childress, whom federal agents described as a suspect in an attempted murder who had a gun in his possession.

Dead: Childress was shot five times by officers who thought that his cellphone was a gun

Childress' attorney, Brad Reinhart, said earlier that while his client's crimes were serious, including armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and theft, attempted murder was not among the charges leveled at him.

He was declared a fugitive and ended up under federal surveillance after missing his sentencing hearing in mid-December.

McMahill said that the officers involved in the conformation on December 31 spent more than two minutes trying to get Childress to drop what they thought to be his gun and gave him 24 commands before opening fire.

In the newly released body-cam video, an officer can be heard repeatedly yelling at Childress, 'Get on the ground,’ while pointing a gun at him as the 23-year-old calmly crosses the street in a residential neighborhood.

The cop orders Childress to show his hands and tells his partner, 'He's got something in his hands.'

The officer then emerges from his squad car and pursues Childress on foot, all the while keeping his service weapon trained on the fugitive and warning him that he will soon be surrounded and that a K-9 unit was on its way.

As the standoff continues, the cop urges Childress time and again to drop his weapon and warns him that unless he surrenders, he will be shot.

In the final moments of the video, the armed officer screams at Childress, 'Do not walk towards us,’ as the man is seen in the top left-hand corner of the screen advancing on the cops.

Standoff: In the video, the responding officers are heard issuing Childress more than 20 commands ordering him to drop what they thought to be his gun and surrender

Final moment: This is the last image of Keith Childress before officers opened fire on him to stop the suspect from advancing toward them

The video does not show the moment Bohanon and Walford opened fire on the suspect, striking him five times: three rounds in the chest, one in the hand and one in the thigh.

The mortally wounded 23-year-old collapsed and was handcuffed before paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Officers did recover a gun from a vehicle belonging to a friend of Childress, but it was legally registered to that person who was not aware of the suspect’s criminal history, reported Las Vegas Review Journal.

During the press conference addressing the shooting, McMahill revealed that Walford failed to turn on his body camera in violation of the department's policy – an apparent oversight on the part of the rookie cop that is now the subject of an investigation.

‘Anytime an unarmed individual is shot in today's environment, it's a big deal, but it's not a bigger deal to anybody than this police department,’ McMahill said.

Renee Lott, Childress' aunt, told News 3 Las Vegas that having watched the body-camera video, she is convinced her nephew was trying to surrender when he was shot.

No-show: Attorney Brad Reinhart last had contact with his client, Keith Childress Jr (pictured right)., 23, last month when a jury was set to issue a verdict in his trial for stealing marijuana and guns from a Phoenix home in 2013. Reinhart said he texted Childress to be at the courthouse, but he never showed up

'We know our baby boy. He was surrendering,' she said. 'He wasn’t going anywhere. He was standing by the house. He had a cell phone in his hand. Both hands were out of his pockets.'

Family members said the reason Childress had his phone out was because he was in the habit of videotaping each interaction with police. It is unclear if he managed to record the shooting on his device.

Lott argued that had Metro police took time to verify the information about her nephew that was conveyed to them by the US Marshals, the 23-year-old man would still be alive today.

Childress' brother Nicholas Mann told the station Las Vegas Now the family are considering pursuing legal action against the police department.

'I feel that these officers are trying to hide behind a badge and hide behind slandering Keith Childress for their justification in that,' he said.

Brad Reinhart, the attorney who represented Childress in Arizona, said he last had contact with his client last month when a jury was set to issue a verdict in his trial for stealing marijuana and guns from a Phoenix home in 2013. Reinhart said he texted Childress to be at the courthouse, but he never showed up.

'He didn't show up for the final hearing. They had a warrant out for him,' Reinhart said.

According to Maricopa County Superior Court records, a jury convicted Childress on December 17 of burglary, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and theft.

The scene: Childress' lawyer said the description from police makes it appear as though Childress wanted officers to shoot him. Pictured here is the scene of the crime

Sadness: 'We want answers, we want to know what happened, we want justice for this,"'said Childress' brother Nicolas Mann. 'It all doesn't make sense.' Pictured here is the man's mourning family

Suspect: Childress (pictured) and three other men, including his half brother, were charged with forcibly entering a Phoenix home in March 2013 and stealing marijuana and weapons

Reinhart said the description from police makes it appear as though Childress wanted officers to shoot him.

'That did not strike me as the type of guy he was. He had two kids and a kid on the way,' Reinhart said.

It was the 16th shooting in which an officer opened fire or was shot at in 2015 in the Las Vegas area.

Childress and three other men, including his half brother, were charged with forcibly entering a Phoenix home in March 2013 and stealing marijuana and weapons. But Childress was not the ring leader, Reinhart said.