Update: California DOJ investigating Richmond Police officer-involved shooting
The California Department of Justice has launched an investigation into an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a suspect in Richmond, authorities said Wednesday.
The California Department of Justice has launched an investigation into an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a suspect in Richmond, authorities said Wednesday.
Richmond police officers fatally shot a wanted suspect Tuesday night following a standoff near the 300 block of Carlson Boulevard, authorities said.
Soren Hemmila
Richmond police officers were attempting to locate the suspect, who was wanted on a probation violation warrant related to domestic violence charges, when they found the individual on the Union Pacific Railroad right of way west of Carlson Boulevard at approximately 8:13 p.m., according to a statement released by Richmond Police Public Information office Lt. Donald Patchin.
“The subject refused to cooperate with officers, and a standoff ensued. Officers spent approximately 32 minutes attempting to de-escalate the situation and reach a peaceful resolution. At approximately 8:53 p.m., an officer-involved shooting occurred, and the wanted subject sustained fatal injuries,” Patchin said.
The California DOJ will independently review the officer-involved shooting under Assembly Bill 1506, according to a statement by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
AB 1506, which went into effect on July 1, 2021, requires the Department of Justice to investigate incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian. AB 1506 also requires the California Attorney General’s office to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian. An “unarmed civilian” is anyone who is not in possession of a deadly weapon.
“The OIS incident resulted in the death of one individual and involved personnel from the Richmond Police Department,” according to the statement. “Following notification by local authorities, DOJ’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team initiated an investigation in accordance with AB 1506 mandates.”
Upon completion, the investigation will be transferred to the DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review.
According to Richmond Police, the suspect refused to surrender, leading to a standoff. During the confrontation, the suspect brandished an object that officers believed to be a knife and ignored multiple commands to drop it.
“Despite our officer’s efforts to defuse the situation and end the standoff peacefully, the suspect charged the officers with the object in his hand while raising it in a threatening manner. This resulted in an officer-involved shooting occurring,” police said.
Richmond police said they later determined the object was not a knife but a black knife sheath that the subject wielded and which investigators recovered at the scene.
“Under the requirements of AB 1506, we recognized the California Department of Justice (DOJ) treats this as an “unarmed” officer-involved fatal incident, and we immediately notified them. The DOJ dispatched investigators to the scene to investigate,” police said. “We are fully cooperating with the DOJ’s independent investigation.”
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