Watch this carefully. Officers are backing away, keeping distance, speaking calmly, trying to slow things down, and for a moment it looks like it's working. Then a fourth officer arrives. Sirens, commands, urgency, and within seconds everything changes. Shots are fired, and what happens next leads to a decision that's now dividing an entire city. City leaders say this situation was being de-escalated and that one officer changed the outcome. But police unions and attorneys say the exact opposite, that the shooting was justified and the firing was a dangerous mistake. Because what the video shows and what people are saying about it are not the same thing. So what actually happened in those final seconds? And did something change, or was this always going to end this way? Mayor of Hartford fires an officer who shot and killed a man during a mental health call. Thanks for joining us for the news at 6. I'm Keisha Grant. And I'm Mike Hydeck. The mayor says the actions of that officer did not meet the standards for the department. >> Now his fellow officers are calling for him to get his job back. >> NBC Connecticut's Matt Austin is live in Hartford with reaction tonight. Matt. Yeah, so Mike and Keisha, the mayor says he fired the officer during his probationary period because he fell short of professional standards. But the police union fired back calling the mayor a coward and warned there could be some dark times coming for the city. Here's what we know from the video. A man, later identified as Steven Jones, is in the middle of a mental health crisis holding a large knife. The first officers on scene don't rush in. They back away, creating space. They speak calmly, keeping their voices low, trying to slow everything down. And for a moment it appears to be working. But at the same time he's still moving toward them. So even as things look calmer, the risk never fully goes away. And then another officer arrives on scene. And according to city officials, what happens next is where everything changes. But not everyone agrees on what actually happened in those moments. >> Hold on. Drop the knife. Drop the knife first. Officer Hosway Charles was first on scene in the North End and immediately ordered Steven Jones to drop the knife. Hey, throw the knife away. Throw the knife. Seconds later Jones leaves his apartment stoop and walks into the street closer to Officer Charles. After a minute of refusing to drop the knife, Jones is tased multiple times. Drop the knife. But they're unsuccessful. A second officer arrives trying to calm Jones down. You got to drop it. We don't want to shoot you. We don't want to, bro. You got to drop it. A third officer also ordering Jones to drop the knife as the three cops form a semicircle around him. DROP THE KNIFE, HON. DROP THE KNIFE. Drop [clears throat] the knife. Honey, you got to drop the knife. You got to drop the knife. 5 minutes into the full encounter with police, a fourth officer, Joseph Magnano, pulls up. Within 30 seconds of Magnano on scene, Jones walks toward him. >> Want me TO GET YOU SHOT? DROP THE KNIFE. DROP THE KNIFE. DROP THE KNIFE. >> [screaming] >> DROP IT. LAST TIME. DROP THE KNIFE. DROP IT. And Magnano shoots nine times. One of the officers calling Magnano "Mag" hoping he calms down. DROP THE KNIFE. MAG, MAG, MAG, MAG. OFFICER MAGNANO CAME in um sirens blazing. Uh he came in and from the video appears to have re-escalated the situation uh and made it worse. After reviewing the video, Hartford's mayor made a decision to fire the officer. He said the first officers were working together to de-escalate the situation, and that when a fourth officer arrived, he didn't follow that approach. And from the video, it appears that his arrival made the situation worse. In other words, the outcome may have changed in just a few seconds. But police leaders and union officials say that's not what happened. They say the officer was facing a man with a knife who was still moving toward police and made a split-second decision based on that threat. And they warn that firing an officer for that decision could change how police respond in the future. That hesitation, they say, could cost lives. And legal experts are raising a different concern, not about the shooting, but about the decision to fire the officer so quickly. The police union worries about the signal the firing will send to people thinking about becoming officers in the city, and they're also calling for the officer to be reinstated. >> This was a tragedy of justice and process. Our mayor caved to political pressure. He is a coward. He is devoid of any semblance of leadership or manhood. There are dark times coming. Channel 3 law enforcement analyst and retired Lieutenant J. Paul Vance has reviewed all five videos. The verbage that was being used by all the officers was very good and and I and I and I got to I got to say that. You know, they were kind, they were concerned, they were even friendly. Um I think the female officer said, "Honey, put it down." I think they probably did just about everything they could. But you're fearful. You're fearful here yourself for the individual coming at you. And and certainly the people behind them. But the end result is the second shooting involving a Hartford officer in just eight days. Both men with knives, both battling mental health issues, and both begging the question, is there another way this could have ended? And Mark and Aaron, just just from speaking to people in this North End neighborhood in Hartford, they do believe from looking at the body camera footage, from looking at the cell phone footage from Friday, that this could have been handled differently. The mayor says the public deserves full transparency here. The Inspector General now investigating independently to determine if this shooting was justified or not, but that could take several months. They say the investigation isn't finished and that making a decision this early could be a rush to judgment. So now this case isn't just about what happened on that street. It's about something bigger. What should happen in those final seconds when everything is on the line? Because depending on how you see it, this was either a justified decision or a moment that didn't have to end this way. Thin Blue Lies, baby. Hey, if you're still here, that tells me two things. One, you actually care about accountability. And two, YouTube hasn't scared you off yet. So here's the deal. If this video brought you value, do the YouTube things. Like it, share it, subscribe. That's how this channel keeps exposing nonsense without corporate filters. 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