Body Cam Video Released Of Grass Valley Incident Where Officers Shot Man Carrying Weapon
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) – The Grass Valley Police Department has released body camera footage of the deadly encounter between police and a man earlier in the month.
From the moment the 911 call came in on New Year's Day, dispatchers knew they had an odd and potentially dangerous situation unfolding.
The caller told authorities that a man, later identified as Gabriel Strickland, 25, was "walking down Squirrel Creek Road with appears to be a gun." Deputies from the Nevada County Sheriff's Office and Grass Valley police officers responded.
The caller said the firearm looked like a shotgun slung over Strickland's shoulder — it was later found to be an airsoft gun.
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Strickland was soon confronted by deputies and officers along the 10000 block of Walker Drive.
As seen in the video, it was an intense exchange with officers shouting and repeating more than 40 times for Strickland to "drop the gun." However, he can be seen pointing the weapon in multiple directions – including at officers.
A taser deployed two times was ineffective.
One officer pleaded with Strickland saying, "Please drop the gun. We don't want to kill you. Please drop the gun. I care. Listen, I care."
At one point in the video, Strickland tells the officers it's a fake gun to which an officer responded, "We don't know that's a fake gun buddy." Strickland's audio was then muffled and hard to hear. "We don't know that," an officer said. "You could have painted it."
Strickland was then shot. The officers immediately started first aid, but he later died.
The weapon Strickland was holding was later found to be an airsoft gun made to look like a shotgun.
Body camera footage was taken of the incident from several law enforcement officers at the scene. A video compiled from all the footage was released on Thursday.
The video can be seen here (viewer discretion strongly advised): https://youtu.be/IoBKjWoGoAc