This story was updated Thursday to provide additional information about a prior police fatal shooting of a suspect.
Richmond police fatally shot a man wanted for a domestic violence probation violation on Tuesday night after he rushed at officers with an object they said looked like a knife, according to authorities. It turned out to be a knife sheaf.
The shooting happened after a 30-minute standoff between the suspect and police, which started at about 8:13 p.m. near the intersection of South 27th Street near Maine Avenue, the Richmond Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.
The responding officers found the man along the Union Pacific Railroad right of way west of the 300 block of Carlson Boulevard near the Pullman Point apartments.
“During the standoff, the suspect wielded an object that appeared to be a knife,” RPD said in a Facebook update to the incident Wednesday night. “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.”
Richmond police said investigators afterwards determined that the object was a black knife sheath.
The man’s identity, age and the names of the officers involved have not been released. It’s unclear whether he was shot by one officer or multiple officers.
Following department protocol for such fatalities, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office was called to the scene to conduct an investigation under the county’s Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Protocol.
Under California law, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office will review what happened and determine if the use of force was justified and if charges are filed.
Richmondside contacted the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office which declined to provide comment and deferred all questions to the California Department of Justice (DOJ).
On Wednesday, the California DOJ announced it was investigating the incident.
“Following notification by local authorities, DOJ’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team initiated an investigation in accordance with AB 1506 mandates,” the statement reads. “Upon completion of the investigation, it will be turned over to DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review.”
“We are fully cooperating with the DOJ’s independent investigation,” the Richmond police statement said. “We believe it is important to release information in a transparent manner. We intend to release additional information as soon as the investigation allows.”
This marks the first such incident in Richmond since the June 2023 fatal shooting of Kevin McDonald, 66, of Point Richmond. Two Richmond police officers, Robert Branch and Alex Caine, shot McDonald after they said he had a gun.
Body-worn camera footage from the scene showed officers yelling for McDonald to show his hands when they found him inside of a bedroom with multiple guns present. An officer can be heard yelling, “gun, gun,” before McDonald was shot several times.
“Due to the speed and relatively close proximity of this incident, neither Detective Branch nor Sergeant Caine could effectively attempt to use non-lethal force or verbally de-escalate the encounter,” the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said in its Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident investigation report. “Simply put, McDonald thrust the officers into a position where they would have to either shoot McDonald or be shot.”
Ultimately, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office did not file charges against the two officers though Richmond’s Community Police Review Commission (CPRC) found that they used “unreasonable force” — a finding that came down to the CPRC’s inability to verify the officers’ claims because the body cameras did not show the moment a gun was pointed toward them.
“The shooter officers claimed that when they opened the door McDonald had a gun pointed at them,” the CPRC report stated. “This could not be verified by the Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage as the cameras were blocked by officers’ weapons. One of the shooter officers was not wearing an actively recording BWC in violation of RPD BWC policy.”
The CPRC, which has been without a lead investigator since September, has been looking to make it easier for citizens to file complaints against officers.
During its regular meeting tonight, the CPRC will discuss “taking the necessary steps” to increase the window for complaints beyond the current 120 days, allow for anonymous complaints with personal information redacted from public documents and authorize the CPRC to review all complaints filed against officers.
Currently, the CPRC only reviews cases of excessive or unnecessary force, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
This reporter clearly lacks a full understanding of the law and what it truly means to be a police officer—someone who risks their own life daily to serve and protect the public, including this very reporter. Police officers face life-or-death decisions that are not always black and white.
Has this reporter ever made an effort to understand the pressures officers face? Have they even watched the entire video and considered how long it took for officers to clear the house?
How many officers shouted “Gun!”—was it just one or two? And was it repeated two or three times?
Is it clear, upon closer inspection, that the suspect’s hand was on the gun in his lap after he was shot? Slow the video down if necessary; it’s visible.
What did Kevin McDonald yell before officers breached his bedroom?
And why is there no mention of and link to the former CPRC investigator’s resignation letter, where they stepped down due to their disagreement with the CPRC’s finding? A finding that was not unanimous and intentionally contradicted the independent findings of both the DA’s office and the investigator due to an ulterior motive of Reimagine Richmond. According to the investigator, the CPRC’s conclusion was tainted by bias, laziness and unethical reasoning.
But, of course, this doesn’t align with the anti-police narrative this reporter and Richmondside seem determined to push.
This reporter and media outlet come across as biased and ungrateful for the very security the police provide—security they may one day rely on.
Maybe they should consider doing some ride-alongs with officers at night. It could be an eye-opening experience for them. Or, perhaps that wouldn’t fit the agenda of this reporter and their outlet.