Two days after a police shooting in Danville, authorities on Saturday identified the man who remains in critical condition with a gunshot wound as well as the sheriff's deputy who fired the shot on Thursday -- the same officer who pulled the trigger in a fatal police shooting in downtown Danville in 2018.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office alleges Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old transient, was throwing rocks onto Interstate 680 from the Sycamore Valley Road overpass and then approached responding Danville police Officer Andrew Hall with a knife in hand, refusing to drop the weapon.
Hall, a sheriff's deputy assigned to the Danville Police Department under the town's contract with the county for police services, fired his duty weapon and hit Wilson one time, causing serious injuries, according to the sheriff's office.
Wilson remains in critical condition at an area hospital as of Saturday evening, officials said.
Hall, who has worked the past 7-1/2 years as a law enforcement officer, has been placed on paid administrative leave per department policy while the sheriff's office and Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office conduct their investigations, officials said.
Hall is the same Danville police officer who fatally shot 33-year-old Newark resident Laudemer Arboleda at close range while Arboleda tried to drive around police vehicles trying to block his path in downtown Danville on Nov. 3, 2018.
Arboleda's mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court alleging the fatal shooting was unjustified given the circumstances of the incident, including that Arboleda was experiencing a mental health crisis.
The outcome of the DA's office investigation in that case is still pending. It was not immediately clear when Hall was cleared to return to full active duty after the Arboleda case.
"Our criminal investigation into the Arboleda shooting is ongoing. A public report would be released if no charges were filed against the officer. I don't have a timeline of when our investigation would be complete," said Scott Alonso, spokesperson for the DA's office.
These were reported to be the town's first officer-involved shootings since 2001.
Thursday's incident unfolded around 11:45 a.m. when Danville PD received multiple reports from motorists that someone was tossing rocks onto I-680 from the freeway overpass at Sycamore Valley Road, according to the sheriff's office.
Officer Hall arrived at the scene and attempted to approach the person in question -- later identified as Wilson, who officials said is homeless and living in the area of the nearby Sycamore Valley Park and Ride.
Sheriff's officials allege Wilson responded to Hall's advance by pulling out and opening a folding knife. The officer reportedly ordered Wilson to drop the knife several times.
Authorities said Wilson refused to comply and began to advance toward the officer, who fired his weapon and struck the man once. It is unclear how many shots were fired.
A wounded Wilson was taken to a local hospital for treatment that afternoon. According to the sheriff's office, he was listed in critical condition as of Saturday evening.
Sheriff's officials released a photograph with their press release on Thursday which they said showed the transient approaching the officer knife in hand. The photograph appeared to be pulled from a police body camera; the video footage of the incident has not been released.
The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff's office and the DA's office, under the county's officer-involved shooting protocol. Anyone with additional information on the shooting is asked to contact the investigators through dispatch at 925-646-2441 or at 925-313-2600. For any tips, email tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
The news of Hall's involvement in a second police shooting in less than 2-1/2 years sparked a strong reaction from an attorney at the Law Offices of John L. Burris, which represents the Arboleda family.
Attorney Melissa Nold tweeted on Saturday night, "Danville PD Officer Andrew Hall murdered my client’s son, Laudemer Arboleda in 2018. Officer Hall shot another man on Thursday. That’s what happens when you refuse to discipline or charge an officer when they murder an innocent man."
Arboleda's death occurred in the wake of a suspicious circumstance call on Nov. 3, 2018, when a resident in a neighborhood near downtown Danville called police to report a man acting strangely, walking toward several homes with bags in his hands and then circling the neighborhood in his car that Saturday morning, police said at the time.
Danville police officers soon tracked down the vehicle in question but said the driver -- later identified as Arboleda -- immediately drove away from police. A short pursuit ensued before other officers parked their cars at a downtown intersection in an attempt to box in Arboleda's car.
As Arboleda tried to drive around the car blockade at a slow speed, Hall was exiting his police cruiser and running toward a gap in the police cars, according to sheriff's video footage from that day. When the evasive car was only a few feet from him, Hall began to backpedal and fired approximately 10 shots into the moving vehicle. Arboleda died at the scene.
Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston defended the deputy later that month, saying the case involved "a dangerous and reckless person trying to run down and murder a police officer." The sheriff also discounted the family's allegation that race was a factor in Hall's decision to fire at Arboleda, who was of Filipino descent.
The civil rights lawsuit filed by Arboleda's mother alleges Hall used excessive force and was unreasonable in firing at a slow-moving vehicle in downtown at a man experiencing a mental health crisis. The suit also questions whether Arboleda's skin color factored into the officer's decision to use lethal force.
Comments
Registered user
Birdland
on Mar 15, 2021 at 8:53 am
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2021 at 8:53 am
Interestingly how quickly the Law Enforcement Officer’s name has been released to the public, but we are still not allowed to know the name and background of the Capitol Hill Police Lieutenant that shot and killed Ashli Babbitt. I wonder why in the latter case that is so?