Incident: Friday, January 17, 2025, about 5:40 p.m., 14000 block of Steeplechase Road, Victorville, California. Footage released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department on Friday, October 23, 2026.
At about 5:40 p.m., dispatch received a 911 call from a home in the 14000 block of Steeplechase Road in Victorville about a man with a gun threatening the people inside. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the caller told dispatch her son, 44-year-old Lawrence Harris, had pointed a gun at another family member.
Deputies responded with lights and sirens. The first deputy to arrive knocked on the front door, and Harris’ brother answered. As the deputy approached the doorway, he heard the sound of a handgun slide being manipulated and saw Harris inside holding a firearm. The deputy gave Harris multiple commands to drop it, and Harris backed further into the house toward the stairs.
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Harris started up the stairs and moved the gun from his left hand to his right. The deputy ordered him to “drop the gun” and “do not go up there.” Harris did not drop it and kept climbing. The sheriff’s department says that at the time, it was unknown whether anyone else was upstairs. The deputy fired his service weapon, striking Harris.
Deputies gave Harris medical aid until paramedics arrived. He was taken by ambulance to Providence St. Mary Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. No deputies were hurt.
Investigators found that Harris’ handgun did not have a magazine inserted; a loaded magazine was recovered in an upstairs bedroom. Detectives also learned that before deputies arrived, Harris held the gun to his brother’s head and pulled the trigger, but it did not fire, and threatened to kill his mother. The two hid in a downstairs bedroom and called 911.
The Sheriff’s Specialized Investigations Division took over the investigation, and the case has been provided to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office for review.
The video above is the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s own critical incident video, as the department released it.
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