The Elk Grove police on March 10 released video footage of the Feb. 21 confrontation that led to an officer firing five rounds at an armed carjacking suspect while the police chased him down a hotel hallway.

They then found Booker Talefares Pannell III, 40, lying on the sidewalk outside an exit, and suffering from two gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital later that night.

As a practice of transparency, the Elk Grove police posted a video presentation of the incident on YouTube.  They used Elk Grove maps and videoclips to narrate what led to the shooting at the Holiday Inn Express on the 9700 block of West Stockton Boulevard.

In a new detail released in the police video, authorities said that it is unknown if Pannell died from police fire or from his own gun.

Officers reportedly saw him draw a handgun from his waistline and point the weapon at his head while he fled to an exit. An officer then opened fire after the suspect turned his upper body toward the police, the Elk Grove police reported. This shooting was recorded by a police body camera, but the footage was too shaky for the Citizen to have a clear view of Pannell.

Investigators later found a spent shell near where Pannell laid on the sidewalk and determined that it matched the ammunition in his gun, authorities reported. All five police casings were in the hallway.

“At this time in the investigation, it is unknown if the rounds the officer fired or the round fired by Mr. Pannell was the cause of death,” the Elk Grove police stated in their online video.

The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office report on Pannell is still pending, they said.

During the evening of Feb. 21, Pannell allegedly carjacked his friend near the corner of Shana Way and Whitelock Parkway while he was driving him to a hospital. An officer’s body camera recorded his interview with the victim who said that Pannell appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine and displayed paranoid behavior.

“He was having some type of side effects or whatever, I think he was on meth,” the victim said in the police video.

While traveling in the car, Pannell allegedly said, “They’re coming to get me,” before he brandished his handgun at his friend. This action prompted the victim to get out of the vehicle and flee.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” he later told an officer at his house.

Around 11:40 p.m., the Elk Grove police were notified about a disturbance at the Holiday Inn Express. Officers arrived and recognized a parked car that matched the description of carjacking victim’s vehicle. The Elk Grove police video stated that the officers knew that the suspect was possibly armed before they entered the hotel.

Four officers quickly drew their guns when they saw Pannell in the lobby and repeatedly shouted at him to get on the ground. One officer then switched her weapon to a Taser. Police body camera footage showed Pannell holding his hands up while telling the police, “there are people trying to kill me.” He also asked if they were real officers.

In his final moment before the foot pursuit in the hallway, Pannell said, “I don’t want to die.”

An officer warned him about her Taser after he did not obey police orders to get on the floor.

“Taser, taser,” she yelled before firing the Taser at Pannell’s legs.

He then dashed down the hallway where an officer then fired his service gun at him.

In the police footage, a bystander happened to be right outside the exit when the officer opened fire. He laid on the ground with his hands up and was not hit by the gunfire.

The Elk Grove police stated that officers gave Pannell medical aid before he was transported to a hospital.  

This case remains under investigation, and it will also be independently reviewed by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the Elk Grove police’s Professional Standards Bureau, authorities said.

Last month, the Elk Grove police released video footage of another officer-involved shooting case where authorities shot and injured a murder suspect who sat in his car during a confrontation on Bruceville Road. They reportedly found a replica handgun on his front passenger seat.

The online video of the hotel shooting can be viewed via the Elk Grove Police Department’s YouTube channel.