Videos show police shooting unarmed man mistaken for bicycle thief

A US judge has ordered a local police department to release video that shows officers shooting dead an unarmed man mistaken for a bicycle thief.

The footage, recorded on the dashcam of two squad cars in June 2013, show officers from Gardena Police Department approach a trio of men with guns drawn.

The three civilians quickly raise their hands, but one of them, later identified as Ricardo Diaz Zeferino, appears confused by the orders shouted by the officers.

When he takes off his baseball cap, the officers shoot Mr Diaz Zeferino eight times, killing him.

Friend, Eutiquio Mendez, was wounded in the shooting and still has a bullet lodged in his spine.

He told a press conference that as Mr Diaz Zeferino fell to the ground, he said to his friend: "I won't see you again".

Yesterday, Mr Diaz Zeferino's family lawyer, Sonia Mercado, said on the night of the shooting her client had finished a 12-hour shift and had just left a bar after having a beer and playing a game of pool with his friends.

Despite a $4.7m settlement to the family of Mr Diaz Zeferino, the city of Gardena refused to release the incriminating footage that proved the victim was unarmed and not a threat.

"Nothing is sufficient, not even the money. A life is more important than the money," Mr Diaz Zeferino's brother, Augustin Reynoso, told the Los Angeles Times.

"I want the Gardena Police Department to be investigated more deeply."

Mr Diaz Zeferino was working long shifts at a restaurant seven days a week to support his family, including a sister who was studying to be a nurse and another family member who had an amputated leg.

Gardena Police Chief Ed Medrano said officers are now undergoing new training to prevent such shootings taking place, including wearing body cameras to help make them more accountable.