Bodycam footage shows police shoot US man pretending to have a gun

Crawford seen moments before the shooting. Photo / Supplied

US police have released bodycam footage of the moment they fatally shot a man who claimed to have a gun, only to find he only had his hand behind his back.

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, released footage of the December 28 incident and named the man as 30-year-old Jordan Crawford, saying he was shot because he "simulated a handgun".

The release was part of a so-called "critical incident briefing", a device used by police to release details of police shootings to the media.

Police said that they were originally called by Crawford ex-partner, who reported that he had turned up outside her apartment and refused to leave, telling them "he had been violent in the past with her and was now causing problems for her," police spokeswoman Sergeant Mercedes Fortune said.

Responding officers did not see Crawford at the residence but caught up with him elsewhere in the apartment complex, where a tense stand-off ensued.

They called to Crawford to stop but he refused, placing a hand behind the small of his back and telling officers he was armed with a gun.

Jordan Crawford. Photo / Supplied

The footage shows an officer following Crawford, asking him what he was holding behind his back.

"It's a gun, do you want to see?" Crawford shouts back

"Jordan, don't do this," an officer shouts.

"Jordan, show us your hands right now, brother."

The police followed Crawford as he walked backwards through the complex, ignoring their instructions.

Crawford is heard to ask police "who wants to kill someone tonight?" before an officer replies "Jordan, we don't want to kill you, dude."

Crawford seen moments before the shooting. Photo / Supplied

Eventually backed against a wall, a visibly distressed Crawford begins a fateful coundown.

"Who's gonna kill someone tonight, you decide," he shouts before counting down from five.

Video then shows him pulling his hand from behind his back and being struck by a hail of bullets.

Five officers at the scene then shot at Crawford, before the video cuts to the grisly aftermath.

As a dying Crawford gasps for air, an officer can be heard saying "I don't see any gun, I don't have anything yet."

Crawford was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

AZ Central reports that none of the officers involved had more than four years service and internal and criminal investigation into the shooting are ongoing