This footage shows the moment a straight-shooting police officer in California fatally shoots a man armed with a knife after he took an elderly hostage and was using him as a human shield.

The incident took place at the 5100 block of Pierce Road in Oildale, which is a census place in can County, in the western US state of California, approximately 115 miles north of Los Angeles.

The first part of the footage, caught on CCTV, begins by showing multiple police vehicles deployed after they received a call stating that a man had attacked one of his family members.

The footage, released by police, then indicates that the suspect deployed a fire extinguisher and then ran from deputies after one officer asked him to drop a knife and the fire extinguisher.

The footage then shows the suspect, who can be seen wearing a cap, running into a small office cabin in what appears to be a parking area for lorry trailers. Brandishing a knife, as the CCTV footage shows, the suspect then threatens a man found sitting inside the cabin.

He can be seen holding the elderly man from behind while holding the knife. His hostage can be seen holding his attackers right hand in a bid to keep the blade away from him.

Police then arrive, with their legs only just visible in the frame. The suspect and the police officers appear to exchange words, with the suspect not changing his behaviour. One of the police officers then appears to shoot the suspect, who goes limp and slides to his right before falling to the ground as three officers with weapons drawn burst into the office cabin.

The first police officer immediately disarms the suspect, who is still holding his knife at this point, while a police officer ensures that the hostage is removed safely from the cabin.

Bodycam footage also shared by police then shows the exchange between the suspect and the officer shortly before the suspect is shot.

In the video, the suspect can be heard shouting at the arriving officers: “Back away! Back away!”

A police officer can be heard trying to reassure the hostage taker that they will back away if he puts his knife down. But the suspect does not appear to listen and repeats his command to the officers.

The suspect says: “Put your weapon away.”

The armed knife man adds: “You’re f*cking with me.”

The suspect then says: “I’ll f*cking stab him.”

The suspect then says “Go!” a split second before the officer wearing the body cam fires a single shot and hits the suspect. This is despite the suspect using the hostage as a human shield.

A second shot is fired by the police before one of them tells his colleagues to “Go!” and they rush into the cabin.

The hostage, whose face has been blurred, then scrambles out of the cabin with the assistance of the police officers. The police officer wearing the bodycam can be heard asking the hostage: “Are you okay, sir? Are you okay?”

The hostage, who appears to be shaken and in shock, does not reply immediately as the footage ends.

The police said that the incident took place on 9th February 2022 but they have only just released the footage now following a review.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “On Monday, March 7, 2022, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Critical Incident Review Board convened to consider the use of force in the officer-involved shooting the 5100 block of Pierce Road in Oildale, CA on February 9, 2022.

“After reviewing all the facts involved in this case, the Critical Incident Review Board determined the force used in this incident was within departmental policy.” (sic)

The footage was released following a Critical Incident Review, which involved all officer-involved shooting is being reviewed to ensure that an appropriate amount of force was used.

The names of the officers involved and the fatally injured suspect are currently unclear.