Update (June 13, 2019): A recent investigation into the death of California rapper Willie McCoy found that officers acted in a "reasonable" manner when firing 55 shots at him as he slept in his car.
The city of Vallejo, California, hired retired police officer David Blake to look into the February shooting, reports NBC News. Blake determined Vallejo Police officers acted appropriately when they shot McCoy 55 times as he slept in his car in a Taco Bell parking lot. They were originally called to the scene to do a welfare check after a worker noticed McCoy’s presence.
Blake stated the officers’ actions were "reasonable based upon my training and experience as a range instructor as well as through applied human factors psychology." The report also outlined how many times each officer shot at McCoy.
Officer Colin Eaton fired 13 shots, Officer Jordon Patzer fired 12 shots, Officers Bryan Glick and Anthony Romero-Cano fired 11 shots and Officer Mark Thompson fired seven shots. The last officer, Officer Ryan McMahon, only fired once. The Vallejo Times Herald reports Blake believes the shots were necessary because there was “probable cause to believe McCoy posed an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to himself as well as other officers on the scene.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Blake said the officers don’t have to wait until there is immediate danger. The officers fired a total of 55 shots in about 3.5 seconds.
“Officers are not required to wait until a weapon is pointed at them to take the necessary steps to save their own lives,” he wrote.
“We were disturbed to learn they shot 55 times,” said attorney Melissa Nold, one of the lawyers who is representing McCoy’s family in a wrongful death suit. “They spent taxpayer money to tell them they did a good job. He’s not independent like the city says, he gets paid to agree.”
John Burris, another member of the legal team and Nold’s employer, said Blake “bungled” the investigation.
“They want vindication for their relative, their son, their brother’s life they view as wrongfully taken,” Burris said.
Blake’s findings will not influence another investigation spearheaded by the Solano County District Attorney’s office.
“Whether or not an officer is charged is an independent decision based on a different legal standard after an evaluation conducted wholly by the district attorney’s office,” said City Attorney Claudia Quintana.
Original: Recently released body cam footage captured on the night of the fatal shooting of California resident Willie McCoy showed officers shooting the victim without clear motivation.
KTVU reports the Vallejo Police Department released the 30-minute body cam footage on Friday.
"This is our first time releasing video in this fashion and it is our hope that we can provide sufficient context for the community to understand the facts of this case," the department said in a statement.
The 20-year-old rapper was seen in a silver sedan on February 9, asleep at a Taco Bell drive-thru. Officers were called to investigate the matter, but one of the officers noticed a gun on McCoy's lap setting off a chain of events leading to his death.
In the cam footage, viewers can see officers surround the Mercedes. They thought the door was unlocked at the time but later realized it wasn't. After roughly four minutes, McCoy moves slightly to scratch his left shoulder.
The sudden moment triggered police sending them into high alert. Then, police gave McCoy one command to put up his hands and within three seconds fired upon him several times.
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Police have gone on record stating they gave McCoy multiple chances to comply, but the video suggests they did not. The Guardian reports the footage also failed to capture the rapper reaching for the gun as officers claimed.
"He's got a gun in his lap. The magazine's half out, so he's only got one shot if he shoots. Door looks unlocked," said an officer. "I'm thinking we snatch him out."
The six officers responsible for the shooting have been identified as Collin Eaton, Bryan Glick, Jordan Patzer, Anthony Romero-Cano, Mark Thompson and Ryan McMahon.
McMahon was involved in a fatal police-involved shooting last year.
“There’s a thousand videos on YouTube that show police misconduct, whether it’s beatings of citizens or killing them,” Marc McCoy, Willie's older brother, told the Guardian. “It gets dismissed … The Vallejo police saw the video, and they don’t think there’s anything wrong with it or that the officers did anything criminal.”
Attorney John Burris, who represents the family, said his clients would file a civil rights suit against the officers and the police department.
The unnerving body cam video in its entirety is below:
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