(WATCH) Tucson Police Department Fires Officer Who Fatally Shot White Man In Wheelchair (BODYCAM FOOTAGE)

An officer in the Tucson Police Department was quickly fired after he fatally shot a man in a motorized wheelchair suspected of stealing a toolbox from a Walmart and pulling out a knife when confronted.

Police bodycam footage shows an officer chasing the suspect, a white male, and saying, “Do not go into the store, sir,” as he continues to the front of a Lowe’s Home Improvement store on Monday night. The man in the wheelchair, identified as Richard Lee Richards, 61, is seen running wheeling toward the entrance of the business. The officer, Ryan Remington, fired nine rounds, striking Mr. Richards in the back and side, forcing him to slump over and collapse in the store’s entryway.

Richards seems to be lifeless when Officer Remington places handcuffs on him, according to CCTV store surveillance video footage from the store.

Officer Remington’s actions were “deeply disturbed and troubling,” according to Police Chief Chris Magnus, who spoke during a press conference held on Tuesday.

Chief Magnus said, “His use of deadly force in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use of force and training. As a result, the department moved earlier today to terminate Officer Remington.”

He declined to speak more, stating that the Pima County Attorney’s Office was looking into the situation. A spokesman claimed the office will conduct a full review of the incident after receiving evidence.

Tuscon Mayor Regina Romeo called Remington’s actions “unconscionable and indefensible.”

Her statement reads: “The county attorney has my full support as they proceed with their investigation,” she said in a statement. It is moments like this that test our resolve to ensure justice and accountability.”

Remington’s lawyer, Mike Storie, alleged Remington was fired due to political reasons. “This event happened roughly 24 hours ago. and we have a chief of police who has fired the officer and the mayor who is calling for his indictment. These are unbelievable circumstances that I’ve never seen.”

Mr. Storie stated that Mr. Remington, who has been a member of the Tucson police department for four years, “attempted to de-escalate the situation” until Mr. Richards’s actions left him with “no choice but to use deadly force.”

Mr. Storie claimed he has not seen the entire video footage yet, but only the “cut-and-paste dog-and-pony show presented by Chief Magnus.”

A Lowe’s store was where the confrontation ended, but it began across the street at a Walmart, according to authorities.

Mr. Remington, the security officer on the property, was called by a Walmart employee just before 6 p.m.The employee informed him that a man in a motorized wheelchair had stolen a toolbox from the business, according to Chief Magnus.

According to the chief, the employee stated that he had asked Mr. Richards for a receipt for the toolbox purchase. Magnus said, ” Instead of providing a receipt, Mr. Richards brandished a knife and said, ‘Here’s your receipt.’ Officer Remington wanted Mr. Richards to stop and to surrender his knife. Mr. Richards refused to comply and instead continued to head through the Walmart and Lowe’s parking lots.”

According to the Walmart employee, Mr. Richards had said, “If you want me to put down the knife, you’re going to have to shoot me,” Chief Magnus said.

Officer Remington and his partner warned Richards to not enter Lowe’s. Magnus said, “When Mr. Richards failed to stop, Officer Remington fired nine rounds, striking him in the back and side.”

The attorney for Richards, Brick P. Stortz III, said his client had a lengthy criminal record that began when he was a teenager and included being charged with and convicted of attempted first-degree murder. Richards was also charged with and convicted of transporting illegal immigrants.

Stortz described the shooting as “horrifying and completely out of proportion.”

“It was just so bizarre,” he said. “I could understand how he could maybe be a problem, but you don’t shoot someone in the back nine times in a wheelchair. If you did it, you’d be looking at more problems than you’d care to believe.”

Remington’s lawyer said Remington was taught to fire multiple times in his training. “Officers are trained that if they perceive a serious and imminent deadly threat, they are to fire multiple times until they perceive the threat is removed”.