Shocking moment Salt Lake City police fatally shoot 22-year-old armed robbery suspect 20 times in the back as he was running away

A 22-year-old man suspected of armed robbery at a Salt Lake City strip club was fatally shot by cops last month while he was running away from officers who fired at least 20 rounds at him, body camera footage released on Friday shows.

Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, 22, was shot and killed May 23 after police who were responding to a call of a gun threat chased him when he ran from a motel. 

Officers said a weapon was found near him after he was shot.

The two officers who fired their weapons have been put on administrative leave, which is standard practice for a police shooting. 

The case is still under investigation. 

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Police body cam video shows the fatal May 23 shooting of 22-year-old Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal

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Footage shows Palacios-Carbajal running away from officers and stumbling several times

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Officers fired at least 20 shots, killing the 22-year-old man. Video shows Palacios did not aim a weapon at the officers

According to police, an armed robbery was reported just before 2am at the Trails Gentlemen's Club in Salt Lake City.

'The victim went toward the dumpsters on the east side of the parking lot ... when he was approached by two males whom he had seen inside the club earlier on in the night,' according to the police watch log.  

'Both males had guns and told the victim to empty out his pockets. Once they took his money and wallet, the victim fled the scene.' 

The victim, who just revealed his first name, Alvaro, alleged that Palacios, was one of the men who robbed him at gunpoint.

The Salt Lake City Police Department released three videos from body cameras worn by officers who were on scene. 

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Salt Lake City police were called to the area after receiving a report of someone who was 'making threats with a weapon'

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Palacios (top left) immediately took off running after officers spotted him near the parking lot outside of a strip club

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Police said they yelled at him 17 times to either 'stop,' 'show me your hands,' or 'drop it,' referring to a gun

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Police said a gun was recovered from the scene, though Palacios doesn't appear to ever point the weapon at officers, according to the video

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Officers fired some 20 shots at Palacios, all from close range, the video shows

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The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the Salt Lake City Police Department investigates the shooting

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Mayor Erin Mendenhall called the video 'disturbing and upsetting' and said she expects the investigation to be handled quickly and with transparency

The video showed Palacios running away from the officers at the Utah Village Motel just after 2am. 

Capt. Richard Lewis said the officers chased him and yelled at him 17 times to either 'stop,' 'show me your hands,' or 'drop it,' referring to a gun, the Deseret News reported.

The footage shows Palacios trip and fall several times before getting up and continuing to run. 

He then picks up something from the ground and continues running before two officers begin shooting.

After Palacios-Carbajal is shot in the back and falls to the ground, officers continue shouting at him to show his hands, footage shows.

Based on the body camera footage, it does not appear that Palacios pointed a gun at the officers involved.

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Police said Palacios was one of two men who robbed another man at gunpoint at the Trails Gentlemen's Club in Salt Lake City

Mayor Erin Mendenhall called the video 'disturbing and upsetting' and said she expects the investigation to be handled quickly and with transparency.

'Right now, given all that our country is going through, in particular the rawness and fear that so many people of color are feeling, outrage is understandable,' Mendenhall said Friday as protests continue around the country over the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck. 

'I know that I haven't walked in your shoes, but I will walk with you. I hear you, and I accept the work that´s being asked of us.'

Police Chief Mike Brown said he trusts in the department's investigative process for officer-involved incidents.

'I love the women and men of the Salt Lake City police department, and I stand behind them,' Brown said.

Palacios's family is calling for the officers involved to be criminally charged.

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Palacios's family wants the officers involved in his death to be criminally charged

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At the time of his death, Bernardo Pelacios-Carbajal was on probation after he was convicted in October of robbery

They privately met with police Friday to see the video before it was publicly released.

'They didn't have to kill him,' his sister, Elsa Karina Palacios, told The Salt Lake Tribune. 

'They didn't have to shoot him so many times. He was running. He was scared. He would still be here.'

His brother said police could have used less-lethal measures to take Palacios into custody.

'There are ways to de-escalate a situation - Tasers, rubber bullets, K-9s,' Freddie Palacios said. 

'Especially when they show up on scene and they don’t know if that person is who they were even there for, just because a person took off running. 

'Where did they get their facts for that? I mean, if I see a cop I’m going to run because I’m scared, especially now. 

'Like, I don't want that happening to me.'

At the time of his death, Bernardo Pelacios-Carbajal was on probation after he was convicted in October of robbery.

But friends and family said that his past criminal history is irrelevant and that the officers involved in the shooting could not have known about it.

A GoFundMe crowdfunding page was set up by the family to help pay for burial and funeral expenses.  

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