Body Cam Video Shows Cop Fatally Shooting Man Who Brandished Knife in California Intersection

Body camera and other video released this week shows a confrontation which led to the eventual police shooting of Tyrell Wilson, 32, in Danville, Calif., on March 11. Officer Andrew Hall, a 7-and-a-half-year veteran of the Danville Police Department, confronted Wilson in an intersection, the video shows. When Hall pulled the trigger, his body camera revealed that he appeared to have a sticker of a “Thin Blue Line” flag attached to his service weapon.

A March 11 press release from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said Hall was dispatched at 11:48 a.m. after police “received several calls from motorists regarding a person who was throwing rocks off the Sycamore Valley Road overpass onto Highway 680.” (In California, that suspected crime would seem to qualify as both assault with a deadly weapon and battery.) The news release continues:

A Danville Police Officer arrived at the scene and contacted the subject in question in the area of Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Ramon. The officer approached the subject who was standing on the street. As the officer tried to talk to him, the subject pulled out a folding knife and then opened it. The officer ordered him to drop the knife several times. He then advanced toward the officer, who discharged his weapon striking the subject once. {snip}

A subsequent release dated March 13 identified both Wilson and Hall. Wilson was described as “a 32-year-old transient who was staying in the area of the Danville Sycamore Valley Park & Ride on Sycamore Valley Road.” {snip} Hall was said to have been placed on “paid administrative leave per department policy.”

{snip}

Body camera video of the March 11 incident was released on April 21, about the time Hall was charged with voluntary manslaughter in an unrelated deadly on-duty shooting in 2018.

The body camera video shows Hall exiting his squad car and approaching Wilson at the same intersection where the shooting occurred.

{snip}

Video from other angles also released by the sheriff’s office shows Hall advancing toward Wilson during most of the encounter as Wilson walked or backed away. After Wilson drew the knife, Wilson took steps toward Hall before Hall pulled the trigger split seconds later.

{snip}

Around the time of the release of the video, Hall was charged criminally for shooting and killing Laudemere Arboleda during a Nov. 2018 traffic pursuit. {snip} Hall’s defense attorney is arguing that shooting qualifies as self-defense and as the defense of another.

{snip}