ISP releases video of August Granite City police shooting

GRANITE CITY, Ill. (First Alert 4) - The Illinois State Police (ISP) released video Friday of a fatal police shooting from August in Granite City.

The shooting happened on Aug. 24 in the 2000 block of Edison Avenue. Ryan Cerentano, 40, was shot by officers. He later died at an area hospital.

The video released by ISP shows body-worn camera footage from three officers who were at the scene. The first video has the clearest view of the events that unfold, and appears to be footage from the officer who was negotiating with Cerentano.

GRAPHIC: FOOTAGE SHOWS FATAL POLICE SHOOTING

From the first officer’s footage, Cerentano can be seen standing on the roof of a home’s porch. Later footage shows a handgun and a long gun on the roof with Cerentano. The long gun, investigators learned after the shooting, was a replica.

“Ryan, Ryan, I really want to talk to you, but it’s really hard to do that from here,” the first officer calls to Cerentano.

“You can come up here and talk to me,” Cerentano responds. The officer is heard telling Cerentano he can’t talk to him until he puts the guns away.

The video shows the first officer continuing to try to speak with Cerentano.

Cerentano tells the officer he’s worried about the police taking his guns, makes threats to harm himself and then tells officers he pulled a pin on a grenade. No grenade ever goes off.

He then told officers he wanted to speak with his wife.

“We can’t do that right now, Ryan,” the first officer is heard saying.

Then, an officer can be heard telling Cerentano to drop the gun. Someone is heard asking if anyone is inside the house.

Then, Cerentano is seen on the first officer’s camera raising both of his arms to the side. An officer then shoots Cerentano, and he falls prone onto the roof.

Following the first shots, in the videos of the second and third officers, who appear to be the officers who shot Cerentano, you can hear an officer shouting, “Do not reach for it. Do not reach for it. Drop it.”

Then, another officer shoots at Cerentano. The second shot comes approximately 13 seconds after the first shot.

The video from the first officer’s camera is too far to tell if Cerentano had either or both guns in his hands when he raised his arms before an officer shot him. The body-worn cameras of the other two officers are obscured by a car and police shields. Cerentano cannot be seen in either of these officers’ videos at the time of the shooting.

The officer who had been negotiating with Cerentano and another officer then enter the home and get onto the patio roof with him. The two guns can be seen in the video near him as he lay on the roof.

“I’m dying. Please help me,” Cerentano says.

“We’re going to help you, Ryan,” the negotiating officer told him.

Cerentano was taken to an area hospital following the shooting. He died from his injuries a few days later.

ISP says an officer from both the Granite City Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office had shot at Cerentano.

ISP posted the video on their website. The video is graphic, and viewer discretion is advised.

The state police continue to investigate the shooting. They say they released the footage for public transparency.

When ISP’s investigation is finished, they will submit the case to the Madison County State’s Attorney.