SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Springdale Police Department (SPD) has released case files, dashcam, and bodycam footage in the case of an officer shooting and killing a man whose family says he was having a mental health crisis.
On April 26, SPD announced that the Washington County prosecuting attorney found Corporal Danny Wright was justified in the deadly shooting of Dimitri Calvert that took place on March 12, 2024, leading to all information related to the investigation being available to the public.
The shooting was questioned by Calvert's family, who have said publically that Dimitri needed mental health assistance.
On March 12, SPD said they received multiple calls reporting a man damaging cars and threatening people on Norfolk Avenue.
SPD originally said the person who was killed, identified as 30-year-old Dimitri Calvert, was found with a knife and refused to drop it, prompting Wright to shoot and kill him. In an updated statement three days after the shooting, SPD said Calvert was holding a knife to a bystander's neck, which prompted the shooting.
"Through the initial investigation and while reviewing video evidence and statements; it has been found that moments leading up to the shooting Dimitri Calvert took an uninvolved male and held a knife to his throat prior to Corporal Wright discharging his firearm and striking Calvert," SPD said on March 15.
Wright has been with the department for 25 years, according to a news release. During the investigation, he was placed on paid leave. Wright has returned to full duty, according to SPD.
Footage released
In the dashcam and bodycam footage released by SPD on Friday, you hear Wright tell Calvert to "drop the knife" a total of 40 times. Immediately after exiting his patrol car, Wright is seen on bodycamera with his gun drawn. At the beginning of the confrontation, Calvert is holding a broken table leg in one hand and a knife in the other hand.
Several neighbors are seen in the videos, including Calvert's family members.
Three clips were released by SPD: one of Wright's bodycam with audio but a blurred view, a clearer video from his patrol vehicle's dashcam with low audio, and the dashcam video of another responding patrol car that shows the end of the altercation and Wright shooting Calvert twice.
5NEWS has requested additional footage via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Wright's bodycam
The clip of Wright's bodycam released by SPD Friday morning is a little over 2 and a half minutes long, beginning with Wright getting out of his vehicle and drawing his weapon before repeating "drop the knife," over and over to Calvert. In Wright's report of the incident, he said "I know I told the suspect an overly abundant number of times to drop the knife."
The visual is blurred in the video, and little can be made out.
Calvert is heard multiple times saying, "What are you going to do, shoot me?" Each time Wright responds with "Drop the knife."
At one point, Calvert's brother, who was at the scene with a shovel saying he wanted to help, asked Wright to put down his gun and use a taser. In the video, you can hear Wright respond with "I don't have a taser."
Sgt. Matt Ray with SPD told 5NEWS that the department has a mix of JPX and tasers among the officers and that "neither would have been an appropriate option in that specific situation."
Wright continues to repeat "Drop the knife." Then Wright is heard saying "he's running eastbound," and yells for a bystander to get out of the way. A few seconds pass and Wright is heard saying, "Get away from him" before saying "Drop the knife, I'm gonna shoot you." Two seconds later, a shot is heard and the blurred video shows Calvert falling, then a second shot is heard after Calvert is on the ground.
Wright's dashcam
Wright's dashcam has a clearer view of how the altercation begins but with muffled audio. In this dashcam footage, you can see Calvert holding a table leg in one hand and a knife in his other hand. Calvert is seen speaking with Wright, but no voices are heard besides a few of Wright's "drop the knife," demands.
At one point Calvert drops the table leg, walks out of view, then goes back and picks it up. Calvert then walks out of view again, and Wright follows him with his gun drawn. Wright then says "Get away from him."
The dashcam faces the street opposite where Calvert was shot and shows people walking toward the scene, including Calvert's brother and father.
Once the loud shots are heard, Calvert's father is heard and seen yelling "No, no, no" as he runs past the patrol car, toward where Wright shot Calvert.
Warning: Viewer discretion advised before watching the bodycam and dashcam videos of the shooting below:
Responding officer's dashcam
Springdale police also released the dashcam video of another responding patrol car that approached the scene seconds before the shooting. The clip is 28 seconds long. There were two officers in the vehicle.
The clip begins with the officers driving through the neighborhood and turning onto Norfolk Avenue. As they arrive, the dash camera shows Calvert holding a knife close to a bystander's head, then looping that arm around the man's neck —holding him close to him at knifepoint.
As Calvert grabs the bystander, two officers exit the vehicle and approach the scene.
Calvert and the bystander are in this position for about 9 seconds before Wright fires his first shot. Wright is seen shooting Calvert twice as the other officers get within several feet.
Calvert's family handcuffed
In Wright's dash camera video, Calvert's brother and father can be seen running toward officers while yelling "no" as shots are fired.
According to reports from officers who were on the scene, Calvert's brother was in emotional distress and wouldn't stop physically trying to get between officers and Calvert after he'd been shot and lying on the ground.
Reports say that officers then put Calvert's brother in handcuffs to restrain him while officers and paramedics began life-saving measures.
Officers say they waited until Calvert's brother calmed down to release him.
Calvert's father was also put into handcuffs and refused to talk to officers until his wife approached and talked to them. No charges or arrests were made on the day of the incident but in one of the officers' reports, they said there was cause for charging them with obstructing governmental operations.
Wright's report of what happened
In a FOIA request, 5NEWS received the full case file related to the deadly shooting, including Wright's report of what happened leading up to, during, and after he shot Calvert.
"I could hear the suspect yelling back at me, 'What are you going to do, shoot me". This was repeated several times. I was still trying to assess the situation. I had an armed subject with a knife and club wanting to engage me. I was scared and afraid I was going to have to shoot the suspect," Wright said.
Wright said he did have pepper spray but couldn't use it in this situation as "the wind was blowing right in my face."
The corporal went on to say he wished he would've shot Calvert earlier because "suddenly, the suspect acted as if he gave up on me shooting him," before moving toward and grabbing the bystander. Wright said that's when he had "no choice" but to use deadly force on Calvert, and began worrying about crossfire as other officers began arriving on scene.
He described the moment he shot Calvert, saying he "centered a mass shot without hitting anybody else and having exhausted all attempts to peacefully resolve the situation, I pulled the trigger. I followed up with an immediate second shot and the suspect fell to the ground releasing the hostage."
Wright's bodycam footage and the responding officer's dashcam footage show Wright shooting Calvert once, Calvert falling to the ground, then Wright firing again after Calvert is on the ground and has released the bystander.
Calvert's family says he was having a mental health crisis
Dimitri Calvert's family and members of the Springdale community gathered at the Springdale Police Department on March 16 to remember his life. Calvert's sister told the crowd he suffered from mental health issues and needed help.
Those in attendance called for more mental health resources and spoke out about cases of police brutality across the country.
“It happens time and time again. His name should not be a number," said one attendee.
Calvert's sister also shared memories of their times together, saying her brother needed help that was not provided to him.
In a statement at the time, a local nonprofit, the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition spoke on behalf of Calvert and his family by advocating for better responses to mental health crises.
"The community deserves investments of increased funding for mental health services, appropriate community response teams, and initiatives to reduce the stigma surrounding mental difference and health needs," the AJRC said.
Springdale Police Department's Use of Force Policy
According to SPD's response to resistance policy, the use of deadly force is the last response option for officers. The policy say the use of deadly force is "objectively reasonable" when the officer or another present person is "faced with imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death."
"In all incidents of response to resistance, appropriate medical treatment, consistent with any injury sustained by any individual, shall be immediately provided in the form of first aid, request for emergency medical service or transport to a medical care facility," the policy says.
Although the footage released by SPD ends immediately after the shooting, the case file said officers started treating Calvert for his wounds after kicking the knife away and moving the bystander to safety.
The department's use of force policy says, "Officers should warn the subject before using deadly force where feasible."
According to Wright's training certificates provided by SPD, Wright's response to resistance training certification expired on Feb. 27, 2024, around two weeks before the shooting happened.
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