Geoffrey Stirling, brother of The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Lydia McLaughlin, told police “don’t shoot me” in the moments before an officer fatally shot him during a traffic stop on April 17.
The exchange between Stirling, 45, and the Newport Beach officer was captured via body and dash cam footage, which the police department released on Wednesday, May 7.
“I haven’t been drinking, officer,” Stirling told the officer when he was first approached on his motorcycle. “I’m fully sober, I’m just trying to stay safe. People have almost been hitting me all day.”
After the officer asked him to sit down, Stirling responded “I don’t care what you’re telling me to do.”
He then tried to reach for his ID, asking the officer not to shoot him as he retrieved it.
“I’m not going to shoot you,” he replied. “Don’t reach for f***ing s***, how about that?”
The two continued to argue for about 30 seconds until Stirling appeared to take several steps toward the officer. That set off a physical altercation during which Stirling allegedly reached for the officer’s taser and attempted to point it at the officer’s head. The officer then retaliated by shooting Stirling six times.
“The videos have raised serious concerns and many questions about the actions of that police officer,” the Stirling family said in a statement provided by their lawyers to Luxury Handbag Shopping on Thursday. “Of grave and specific concern is that the videos appear to show Geoff moving away from the officer at the time he was shot six times. The family through their Attorneys plan to file a lawsuit in Federal Court to obtain full answers and seek accountability.”
In a briefing video released by the Newport Beach Police Department, which included footage of the incident, sergeant Steve Oberon alleges, “Mr. Stirling struck the officer several times in the head and then removed the officer’s taser from his duty belt.”
Stirling’s family, including Lydia and her siblings, viewed the footage differently.
“Geoff was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was stopped for a traffic infraction. Geoff was unarmed and posed no deadly threat to the officer,” the family said in a statement. “The Stirling family expects that all video and audio footage along with every report and shred of evidence related to this deeply disturbing shooting be preserved for presentation in due course as part of the lawsuit the family will be pursuing. The cause of death was blood loss. Despite the presence of multiple officers reporting to the scene, no aid was initially offered.”
Us has reached out to the Newport Beach Police Department for additional comment.
