Contra Costa DA says Oakley officer acted lawfully in deadly 2022 shooting
The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office is declining to charge an Oakley police officer for fatally shooting a suspect in August 2022, the office said Friday.
Frank Correa, 58, was shot and killed by an officer after police were called to his residence in the 1800 block of Teresa Lane on Aug. 25, 2022 for a domestic disturbance.
Correa, who police say was armed with a semiautomatic firearm, had allegedly threatened to kill his girlfriend. She escaped to safety, but Oakley officers say they remained with Correa and attempted to de-escalate the situation for two hours.
Police used a drone to detect Correa inside his home allegedly holding a gun, which they said he discharged seven times, including toward police. Officer Brett Jackson was then given authorization by a sergeant to use lethal force "to protect themselves and others in the neighborhood from death or bodily harm," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office said it examined the totality of the circumstances and determined that Jackson's use of deadly force was justified and lawful.
In October, Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston held an inquest into the shooting and killing of Correa. A coroner's jury found that Correa's death was "at the hands of another person, other than by accident." These juries can choose from "accident," "natural causes," "suicide," or at the hands of another person.
The district attorney's office examined the jury's findings, Correa's autopsy, and a "legal analysis of the facts" to reach its conclusions, it said.