Grass Valley Residents React To Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) - A deadly encounter between police and a man in Grass Valley has a community in shock.
"He walked by and he had a rifle -- it was black. I said 'gee, what are you doing?'" said Grass Valley resident Penny Cochrian.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Nevada County Sheriffs Office received a call of a man walking down Squirrel Creek Road with a shotgun over his shoulder. Cochrian was watching from her front window.
"I was surprised because you don't see people carrying guns like that down the road. He was walking went right by my fence there," she said.
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Several deputies from the sheriff's department and Grass Valley police responded to find the man at the intersection of Oak Drive and Walker Avenue.
"She saw a man with a rifle at first she thought is it a guitar, no it's a rifle," said Gale Arnold of Grass Valley.
The suspect ignored officers' commands to drop the weapon and a taser that was deployed had no effect. With no choice, police opened fire.
"We could hear some yelling and then some gunshots. I said 'that's not rifle fire, that's pistols or something smaller,'" said Gale Arnold of Grass Valley.
The suspect was hit at least five times and was pronounced dead at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital.
"I was praying the whole time while I was listening to what was going on outside and the running inside and closing the doors. After the gunshots, we ran inside and closed the doors and locked them because you never know what would happen," said Arnold.
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Police say they have had contact with the suspect before and say he's made statements, and on one occasion, said something about "suicide by cop." On a separate occasion, one of his firearms was taken for safekeeping.
This was not something neighbors expected to see or hear on News Year's Day.
"Too close; hopefully it's in like a lion and out like a lamb -- the year will get better and better," said Arnold.
The Nevada County DA's office his handling the investigation and the law enforcement's use of force.