WARNING: Video includes the use of deadly force. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Police have released the body-camera footage from three officers involved in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Elijah Smith back on April 8.
His family says they believe the officers' use of force was excessive.
“He was doing what they asked," said Alexis Miles, a family friend of Smith. "He was getting his hands out of his pockets.”
Police say Elijah Smith was the suspect in a theft at a cell phone store.
“From the time officers opened the garage door to the time shots were fired was approximately 24 seconds," said Chief Colleen Jacobs with the West Valley City Police Department. "They told him 15 times, in those 24 seconds, to show them his hands and to come out from hiding.”
He ran from officers and into a home with three children inside.
Officers shot Smith inside that home.
Loved ones have created a GoFundMe page to assist Smith's family with funeral costs.
Click here for complete details.
Map: Officers fatally shoot Elijah Smith, 20, in a West Valley home after responding to a cell phone store theft.
Timeline: Officer-involved fatal shooting of Elijah Smith - West Valley City Police Dept.
