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CNN
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A former Northern California police officer jailed in connection with a fatal shooting will not be charged in a second fatal shooting that killed 32-year-old Tyrell Wilson, a black man, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
On March 11, 2021, Deputy Andrew Hall with the Danville Police Department responded to an overpass where Wilson reported throwing rocks onto the interstate, according to a Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Report released Friday. During the confrontation, the two engaged in a back-and-forth argument, and Wilson retrieved a folding knife from his jacket, according to the report.
Hall pointed his gun at Wilson and ordered him to “drop the knife” three times. However, Wilson took two or three steps into the hall, raised the knife to his chest, looked up at the sky and said, “Kill me,” before the deputy shot him once in the head, according to the report.
Wilson was hospitalized and fatally shot two days later, according to a law enforcement-involved fatal incident report that summarized the opinions and analyzes of two use-of-force experts and included a legal analysis of the confrontation between Hall and Wilson. , explaining the charging decision.
“After considering all the available evidence, one reasonable conclusion points to innocence and another reasonable conclusion points to guilt,” the report concluded. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed in this matter at this time.”
CNN has reached out to attorney John Burris, who represents the Wilson family, and attorney Michael Raines, who represents Hall, for comment.
“This was a difficult and challenging case,” District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement. “My legal team and I spent considerable time and resources evaluating the evidence before reaching this conclusion. As a community, we need to find ways to deescalate law enforcement encounters where the use of force leads to tragic outcomes. ”
“The loss of Tyrell Wilson’s life weighs heavily on our community, and I extend my deepest condolences to the Wilson family,” Becton added.
Becton’s office said Wilson personally told the family about the charging decision before the report was published.
Hall also faced multiple charges in 2018 for shooting and killing a man during a slow-speed chase. Hall shot Lodemar Arboleda, a 33-year-old Filipino American, nine times during a 2018 investigation after Arboleda tried to slowly maneuver his car between two police vehicles, according to a news release.
Hall was convicted of assault with a firearm in October 2021 and sentenced to six years in prison, according to criminal court records. As of 2021, Hall has been a police officer for over seven years.
Wilson’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Danville, California, and police officers after a video of part of the shooting was released.
Addressing the video in the 2021 complaint, Burris noted that “even if (the knife) was in Mr. Wilson’s possession at the time of the shooting, the video clearly shows that Mr. Wilson did not take any aggressive action during that time frame.”
In an earlier news release, Burris said there was no evidence that Wilson was “involved in rock throwing,” adding that Wilson was “well known among commuters.” Wilson was homeless and diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, according to the press release.
“My son has never been violent,” Wilson’s mother, Diana, said earlier. “I have not seen the video and do not want to see the video. Last thoughts and pictures of my son I want him to be a beautiful man.
“I don’t want another parent or father to go through what we’re going through right now because I want the officer to come to some kind of justice,” she added. “I think about my child and it makes me cry.”
Lee Housekeeper, a spokesman for Burris, previously told CNN that the attorney’s office was in the process of filing a lawsuit when it found multiple eyewitnesses to the shooting who offered new information, including video.
“The video and witness statements show this was a cold-blooded murder,” Burris said in a statement. “Wilson never stood a chance.”
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