This is the dramatic moment a gunman casually walks down a street with a fake pistol before being shot by a police officer who said it was ‘like staring death directly in the eyes’.
CCTV footage released by prosecutors shows Andrejs Saveljevs, 35, from Boulevard, Hull, stumbling down the road after drinking a litre of Jack Daniels whisky.
He was then shot by an armed officer he had left fearing for his life.
Saveljevs was jailed on Friday after admitting possession of the imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
He was shot in the shoulder on December 15. He survived, but only after 12 days of hospital treatment under armed guard.
The officer said he no choice but to shoot Saveljevs after he pulled out a large, black ‘firearm’ – later identified as a replica Airsoft pistol.
CCTV footage released by prosecutors shows Andrejs Saveljevs, 35, from Boulevard, Hull, stumbling down the road after drinking a litre of Jack Daniels whisky. He was then shot by an armed officer he had left fearing for his life
At Hull Crown Court, the officer who shot Saveljevs said it was ‘like staring death directly in the eyes’.
Before the incident, Saveljevs had drank heavily at home after paying a visit to his estranged wife and two children.
At around midnight, he headed for the pub, picking up the replica pistol he had bought weeks earlier.
Saveljevs was first encountered by a sex worker and then was seen by a couple driving down Hessle Road brandishing the weapon and waving it above his head.
It was then that police were called.
Before they arrived a staff member at a casino in Hessle Road saw Saveljevs point his weapon at a casino customer’s back at a nearby bus stop.
Andrejs Saveljevs was shot by police after brandishing an imitation gun in Hessle Road, Hull on December 15. Pictured are forensics officers at scene
Saveljevs also returned to the sex worker, showing her the pistol and pointing it at the ground as he walked away.
Police soon arrived, shouting at Saveljevs to put the gun down. But he instead turned to them and raised the gun.
An officer then discharged two shots, one that hit the factory worker and another that hit a shop’s metal shutters.
The CCTV footage shows Saveljevs in Hessle Road dressed in black trousers, black shoes and a black hooded jumper.
The hood is pulled over his head as he walks by, pulling the pistol from his right-hand front trouser pocket, looking at it and putting it back several times.
A second piece of footage, filmed at 1.13am on December 15, just above Boulevard, shows armed officers arriving at the scene.
Officers can be seen rushing from their vehicles. As Saveljevs points the imitation firearm at two officers they raise their own weapons.
On Friday, Judge Mark Bury sentenced Saveljevs to two years and six months in prison.
He told Saveljevs: ‘That armed officer, who has been an armed officer for nine years, genuinely believed he was being threatened with a live gun and that his life was in danger.
At Hull Crown Court, the officer who shot Saveljevs said it was ‘like staring death directly in the eyes’
‘He therefore had to make a split second decision in the agony of the moment and he charged to discharge his firearm.
‘You are very fortunate to still be here. He discharged two bullets aimed at your central body mass – if either had hit their target you would not be here.’
He added: ‘Anybody who points a gun at a police officer goes to prison.
‘That is because the police have a very dangerous job protecting society and they must be protected by the courts.’
The six months he has already spent in custody following the incident will be included in his 30-month sentence.
That means Saveljevs is due to be released on licence, halfway through his jail term, in nine months.
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found no evidence of criminal conduct or misconduct by the officers involved.