On May 30th, 2019, at approximately 2:18 PM, Ontario Police Dispatch received a 911 call stating there was a female, later identified as Araceli Arias, armed with a gun and threatening to kill herself in the backyard of a home in the 400 block of West Maple Street, Ontario. The Ontario Police Helicopter crew located Arias, acting erratically as she stood on top of a shed, armed with a handgun and a machete. As officers arrived on scene, they observed a male climb on top of the shed with Arias. The male then began to struggle with Arias to get the gun away from her. Fearing Arias would harm him, the officers and a police K-9 entered the backyard. Once inside the backyard, a large dog at the location attacked the police K-9. Consequently, an Ontario Police Sergeant was forced to shoot the dog. By this time, the male had wrestled the gun away from Arias and threw it off the shed. Arias climbed off of the shed and re-armed herself with the gun and a metal pipe she found on the ground. When Arias saw the officers, she charged at them, which resulted in an officer involved shooting.
Arias received emergency medical treatment at the scene and was transported to a local area hospital, where she died from injuries sustained during the shooting.
The Ontario Police Department is releasing a Critical Incident Community Briefing, to provide further details about this incident. This video includes images from the Ontario Police Helicopter as well as video from officers’ Body Worn Camera.
Please keep in mind, while Body Worn Cameras provide an opportunity to capture events as they transpire in real time, the camera does not record everything an officer may see, hear, or encounter, during an incident. In addition, the content and images of this Critical Incident Community Briefing.
The Critical Incident Community Briefing can be viewed on the link below:
https://youtu.be/9vASL0TRjIM
