GREENSBORO, N.C. — **WARNING** - This story contains graphic video of a deadly police shooting from Nov. 2021, and is not suitable for all viewers. Discretion is advised.
A North Carolina A&T criminal justice professor said body camera footage from November 2021 showing former Greensboro police officer Matthew Hamilton shooting and killing 29-year-old Joseph Lopez still leaves questions.
Hamilton was indicted Monday on manslaughter charges after shooting Lopez on November 19, 2021. Officers were responding to a home on Cloverdale Drive in Greensboro after a resident called 911 reporting Lopez was trying to break in. Officers had been at the home earlier in the day attempting to serve Lopez warrants related to a traffic stop and barricade situation earlier in the week.
Hamilton’s attorney argues Lopez had a black object resembling a gun in his hand. In the body camera video released Wednesday after GPD petitioned the court, Hamilton could be heard saying he thought he had something in his hand. It is unclear if Lopez was armed or not.
“It was definitely very difficult for me to see even if there was an object there, let alone see black and which position it was pointed at,” said N.C. A&T criminal justice lecturer Andrew Kuo.
The body camera video is at night and dark, which could mean a challenging trial for the jurors, according to Kuo.
“That's something that the jurors are going to review,” Kuo said. “So whether the jurors are able to see the same thing that officer Hamilton is claiming is going to be crucial in that sense and it's going to create a sense of whether we as jurors believe what this person is saying or not.”
Kuo said, for police shootings, it’s rare for charges to be brought against officers so he was surprised when he heard about the indictment.
“They are pretty protective of their own kind if you will, and a lot of cases where police use deadly force in this kind of way (with this) kind of result, (it’s) typically resulted in essentially nothing being done,” said Kuo.
The family of Joseph Lopez has filed a civil suit against Hamilton, the Greensboro Police Department, and the City of Greensboro for excessive force and violation of Lopez's constitutional rights.
Hamilton is due in court in July, but it’s unclear when the full trial will be held.
In a statement to News 2 following the release of the footage, an attorney for the Lopez family released the following statement in part.
"We are pleased that former GPD Officer Hamilton has been charged with manslaughter and arrested and that the GPD, after more than six months of secrecy and inaction, has finally fired him and released the videos of Hamilton’s fatal shooting of Joseph Lopez.
The videos speak loudly and establish without question that Hamilton, a 15-year GPD veteran, willfully and wantonly shot and killed an unarmed, non-threatening young man, then made a damning excited admission that confirmed his wrongdoing. While the District Attorney has charged manslaughter, if Hamilton were a private citizen, murder would be the more appropriate charge."