A news station in Fresno got their hands on a never-before-seen disturbing video of a local police shooting that will be used as evidence in an investigation and upcoming court case.
According to KFSN, an ABC affiliate, a police officer shot and killed a 16-year-old named Isiah Murrietta-Golding. Based on the video, the teenager ran from police before jumping a fence, in which the officer, Ray Villalvazo, shot the boy without even attempting to follow suit.
The publication alleges the police were investigating a fatal shooting that happened in April of 2017.
Police say the officer believed the boy might have been armed, but it turned out he was not.
“Isiah and his brother were considered possible or probable suspects,” the plaintiff’s attorney Stuart Chandler said. “There was not a warrant for their arrest. There was no conduct by Isiah that day to ever show that he had a gun, because, of course, he didn’t,” Chandler continued.
The video shows the teen made it less than 10 steps into the yard before Villalvazo fired the fatal shot; Murrietta never got back up after being hit in the back of the head.
Sources say Villalvazo claims he feared for his life due to the notion that he believed the teenager had a weapon and reached for his waist.
“There’s no way that police officer was in fear of his life,” legal analyst Tony Capozzi said. “That’s a justification for the shooting he committed here. Frankly, the killing he did in this particular case. There was no reason for him to shoot that gun. None whatsoever. It makes me angry just to look at this videotape.”
But, according to the city’s Office of Independent Review (OIR), the shooting was within policy.
“The reasonableness of force is based on the officer making a split-second decision after observing the suspect reaching for his waistband area several times during the foot pursuit,” independent reviewer John Gliatta claims of the justification of the use of lethal force.
However, the victim’s lawyers feel different.
“That’s just not what the law says,” said Chandler. “The law says there has to be an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, which clearly there wasn’t. This young man was trying to run away. And you can be as critical as you want about how you shouldn’t do that, but it doesn’t give police the right to use lethal force.”
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