Burbank police released footage on Wednesday documenting the November 2025 fatal shooting of Jose Domingo Ayala Alas, a 37-year-old Palmdale resident who killed a police canine before being shot by officers.
"The purpose of this video is to share audio and video recordings from the incident along with preliminary details and evidence known to investigators at this point," Fekety said in the video.
Officers established a perimeter around the area where Alas fled into dense brush between a freeway soundwall and a nearby residential neighborhood. At around 7:10 p.m., a police helicopter using infrared technology located Alas concealed in the brush on a steep embankment.
Officials said that officers located 9mm ammunition inside a bag on the front passenger seat, where Alas had been sitting, which raised concerns about whether he was armed. Officers ordered Alas to surrender in both English and Spanish at around 8:00 p.m., encouraging him to turn himself in peacefully, but received no response.
At 8:03 p.m., police deployed K-9 Spike, who was wearing a ballistic vest, to search the brush. Moments after the canine entered the brush, multiple gunshots erupted from the area. Spike emerged wounded and was immediately taken to an emergency veterinary hospital, where the dog later died from the gunshot wounds.
What began as a traffic stop escalated into a multi-agency operation involving Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena police departments, along with California Highway Patrol. Officers deployed the Glendale Police Department's MedCat—an armored vehicle designed to provide ballistic protection—near the embankment where Alas was hiding.
Crisis negotiators used the vehicle's PA system to demand his surrender while deploying flash bangs at 11:13 p.m. and again at 11:14 p.m., but Alas did not respond.
At 11:15 p.m., officers sprayed water from a hose attached to the MedCat into the brush. Alas fired toward officers, striking their vehicle inches from officers positioned nearby.
Officers on the freeway and along a pathway returned fire a minute later as Alas stood and moved through the dense brush, before he fell.
Five minutes later, police saw Alas still holding the gun. When he was told to raise his hands, he refused. At 11:21 p.m., Alas pointed his gun again at officers, and five officers from Burbank and Glendale police departments fired, killing him.
Paramedics rendered aid, but Alas died at the scene. Investigators recovered an unserialized 9mm handgun—the same weapon used to kill K-9 Spike.
Alas was a documented 18th Street gang member with arrests for weapons-related charges and a 2010 arrest in El Centro for illegal re-entry following a prior deportation.
The Burbank Police Department said it will conduct a comprehensive investigation over several months, including criminal and administrative reviews, analysis by the Critical Incident Review Board, and an independent assessment by the Office of Independent Review.