Nearly a year after a gunman opened fire on police in a Baldwin Park, California, neighborhood, authorities have released bodycam video and audio that capture the final moments of Officer Samuel Riveros, a nine-year veteran who was shot and killed while urging residents to get to safety. The 15-minute video, published by the Baldwin Park Police Department, also documents the death of a 43-year-old father of two who had been on his way to a housewarming party when he was killed.
Eduardo Roberto Medina Berumen, 22, faces multiple charges including two counts of murder in connection with the May 31, 2025, shooting. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
The newly released footage lays bare the speed and ferocity of the attack. Officers responded to the 4200 block of Filhurst Avenue after reports of a shooting. By the time they arrived, 43-year-old Darius Wong had already been fatally shot. What happened next unfolded in seconds.
The suspect began firing the instant the first officer arrived on scene. Bullets struck a patrol car, and an officer was injured by shattered glass. Another officer returned fire before rushing to help the wounded colleague.
Fox News reported the shooting erupted at about 7:15 p.m. near 4200 Filhurst Avenue, confirming that officers had responded to reports of shots fired before the suspect opened fire on them. A second officer was hospitalized in stable condition.
Riveros, 35, arrived moments later. Bodycam footage from his camera shows him moving along the sidewalk and calling out to nearby residents, warning them to get out of danger. As he advanced, he was shot.
Officers eventually reached Riveros and rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He left behind a record of nine years of service to the Baldwin Park Police Department, a career spent protecting the kind of neighborhood that, on that Saturday evening, became a scene of carnage.
The attack bears a grim resemblance to other recent ambush-style attacks on law enforcement, a pattern that demands serious public attention.
Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert Lopez described the sustained nature of the assault. After hitting Riveros, Berumen did not stop.
Lopez stated:
"After striking the officer, Berumen continued firing rounds at the other officers, preventing them from immediately pulling the wounded officer and the initial victim to safety for medical treatment."
That detail matters. Riveros and Wong lay wounded or dying while the gunman's fire pinned down the remaining officers. The delay in reaching them was not a failure of response, it was imposed by a suspect who, authorities say, remained armed with a rifle even after being hit by police gunfire.
Audio from the scene captures repeated commands: "Drop the gun!" Berumen was ultimately taken into custody.
The tragedy is a reminder of the dangers that officers face on routine calls, much like the recent death of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper that prompted the governor to lower flags statewide.
Darius Wong, 43, was a father of two. He had been on his way to a housewarming party when he was killed. His death was already a fact by the time officers arrived, making him the first victim of a chain of violence that would claim Riveros's life minutes later.
AP News reported that responding officers found a wounded, unresponsive man lying on the sidewalk when they arrived, and were immediately met by gunfire. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed the officers were fired upon. "It's extremely tragic to have to deal with this," Chief Lopez told reporters.
The incident is being investigated as a double homicide. Berumen faces two counts of murder along with additional charges that have not been fully specified in public statements.
The case also underscores the broader reality of gun-related confrontations involving law enforcement that continue to test the limits of officer safety and public accountability.
Newsmax reported that Baldwin Park police responded around 7 p.m. to a call about someone firing rounds with a rifle. When officers arrived, they were met by gunfire. The suspect was wounded and taken into custody.
The 15-minute video released by the department walks through the sequence of events. It shows the first officer arriving and immediately taking fire. It shows Riveros's bodycam as he tried to protect civilians. It captures the frantic efforts to reach the fallen officer under sustained gunfire.
What remains unclear is why. No motive has been publicly stated. The initial shooting report that brought officers to Filhurst Avenue, the one that left Wong dead before police arrived, has not been fully explained. The court in which Berumen is scheduled to appear Thursday has not been identified in public statements.
The name of the officer injured by shattered glass has not been released. That officer's condition was described as stable, but no further details have emerged.
Violent episodes like this one, and like the mass shooting at Mexico's Pyramid of the Moon, force communities to reckon with how quickly ordinary days can turn fatal.
Samuel Riveros spent nearly a decade wearing the badge in Baldwin Park. On the evening of May 31, 2025, he responded to a call, arrived at a scene already marked by one man's death, and moved toward danger while telling civilians to run the other way.
He did not make it home. Darius Wong, who was simply walking to a party, did not either.
The bodycam footage now stands as a public record of what happened, and of the cost paid by the people who showed up when the shooting started.
Berumen faces his day in court. The families of Riveros and Wong face the rest of their lives without them. That imbalance is the real measure of what happened on Filhurst Avenue, and no amount of footage can make it right.
