Shooting of unarmed
suspect
Dylan Noble died in June after he received four
consecutive shots from the Fresno police, twice as he approached officers,
twice while he was on the ground, still moving.
His family thinks Fresno police didn't need to use
deadly force.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said there are questions
that body camera recordings, released Wednesday, answer and some they don't.
Was deadly force, in particular the final two shots
-- taken by two different officers -- necessary?
"I do not have the answer for that today,"
Dyer told reporters in the central California city of 520,000 people.
An internal affairs investigation will look into
whether police procedures were followed and whether there were other options. A
review by the district attorney will determine whether the two Fresno police
officers should be criminally charged.
"We're shocked and appalled that the city of
Fresno would continue to defend the actions of its officers," said Stuart
Chandler, an attorney for Veronica Noble, Dylan's mother. "Clearly the
only appropriate response is to accept responsibility and commit to changing
practices of the police department."
The chief said police originally responded to the
area June 25 after a report of a man carrying a rifle while walking down the
street. The two officers were riding together. One was a reserve officer.
They were stopped at a red light when a black pickup
truck made a right turn onto the road in front of them and with screeching
tires, appeared to speed away. The officers followed and after catching up to
the truck, attempted to pull the vehicle over. The pickup driver kept going for
another half mile.
The officer, Dyer said, began to suspect the driver
was the man with a rifle call. He drew his handgun as he followed the pickup,
just as it turned into a gas station and parked.
Both officers came out of the car with weapons
drawn. Video shows noble putting his left hand out the window. An officer yells
at him to put both arms out.
During the next one minute, 17 seconds, Noble is in
the vehicle but doesn't fully comply with officers' commands, the chief said.
Officers get closer to the truck.
At one point, Noble climbs out of the pickup and an
officer yells that he didn't tell Noble to get out of the vehicle. Noble gets
back in the truck, leaving the door open. The officers move back to their car.
"Let me see your hands," an officer says
repeatedly.
Noble gets out of the truck again and walks away
from the officers, who tell him to get on the ground. He walks several more
steps then turns around.
Dyer pointed out that at this point Noble has his
right hand behind his back. He continues toward the officers then backs up. An
officer yells for him to get down but instead he walks back toward the
officers.
"What do you have in your hand?" one asks.
The he warns Noble he's going to get shot.
As Noble walks toward the officers, he hears another
command to get on the ground. And Noble says, "I (expletive) hate my
life."
The officer with a handgun, a veteran of 20 years,
fires twice. Noble goes down and rolls onto his back.
Dyer said when he reaches for his waistband the
officer fires again.
Noble squirms while he is told to not to move his
hands. About 14 seconds later, the reserve officer, who has 17 years of service,
fires once.
Noble didn't have a gun; he had what Dyer described
as a piece of clear plastic, 4 inches by 4 inches that contained mouldable
clay.
"We don't know what that is," Dyer said.
The chief said he viewed the video on Friday with
Dylan Noble's father, stepfather and attorneys for the parents.
The father is "extremely disappointed at the
way the police handled this shooting and he's relying on outside agencies for
providing him with answers and justice," said Warren Paboojian, the lawyer
for Darren Noble.
Paboojian said Dylan Noble would be alive if Fresno
police had treated it like a normal traffic stop.
"You don't point (a weapon) at an individual
for a traffic stop," he said.
The parents each plan to file a lawsuit against the
city, but the actions likely will be combined into one trial, Chandler said.
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