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Since January 2015, when the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office resumed reviewing officer-involved shootings after a four-year hiatus because of budget cuts, District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert has issued 33 reports on officer-involved shootings in the county.
In each instance but one, Schubert’s office has determined that “the shooting was lawful.”
In the only deviation from that terminology, involving a deputy who shot an unarmed man who survived, her office concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to support the filing of a criminal action” and that “there is no reasonable likelihood” a jury would find the shooting criminal.
The reviews frequently can take more than a year before they are issued, with the completion depending on the amount of evidence received and whether criminal proceedings are under way. Reports on four other shooting incidents from 2017 still have not been published because of pending trials.
The reports, available on the district attorney’s website, have been condensed and compiled by The Sacramento Bee and include information from Bee reporting and court records on the incidents.
Gabriella Monique Nevarez, 22
March 2, 2014: Gabriella Monique Nevarez, 22, was shot and killed by Citrus Heights police officers investigating a report of a stolen car, Schubert’s March 4, 2015, review found.
Nevarez was a bipolar homeless woman who had taken her grandmother’s car and was stopped at an apartment complex at Madison and San Juan avenues, the review found.
Nevarez drove at the officers, collided with one patrol car and raced off at 70 to 80 mph before stopping at another apartment complex, where she smashed her vehicle into another patrol car and accelerated to push it toward a wall and an officer who feared he would be crushed between the wall and vehicle, Schubert found.
Two officers fired multiple shots and, although Nevarez had gone limp, her foot continued to depress the accelerator and was spinning the vehicle’s front wheels. Officers turned off the engine and performed CPR before she was pronounced dead. Nevarez was hit with four gunshots to her back, chest, thigh and scalp.
Nevarez’ girlfriend, who witnessed the shooting, told investigators she saw Nevarez with her hands up when she was shot and “did not believe that the officers had a reason to feel threatened by Ms. Nevarez,” the review states.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
John Harmon, 50
March 8, 2014: John Harmon, 50, was shot and killed by two Sacramento police officers as he lunged at them with a knife aboard a light-rail train in downtown, Schubert’s Aug. 25, 2015, review found.
Harmon, who later was determined to have a nearly lethal dose of methamphetamine in his system, was confronted at 9:17 p.m. after making threats to a Regional Transit security guard. Police arriving on the train at the 13th Street station heard Harmon shout “Shoot me” and “Shoot me, motherf------” aboard the train and saw him raise a knife, the review found. Officers fired Tasers twice with no effect. Harmon then charged the officers holding the knife and two fired their handguns from 3 to 4 feet away, the review found. Harmon was struck six times in the torso and died later at a hospital.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jason Wilson, 42
May 23, 2014: Jason Wilson, 42, was shot and killed by two Citrus Heights police officers after threatening to kill his girlfriend in a 7-11 parking lot and then fleeing to hide in a school, Schubert’s June 26, 2015, review found.
Wilson, a methamphetamine addict who had the word “SUICIDE” tattooed on his neck, fled from the 7-11 on a bike and later on foot around 10 p.m., ending up at the Sunrise Tech Center school. Police surrounded the school and a deputy in a helicopter circling overhead reported to officers on the ground that he appeared to be wearing something across his chest that resembled a rifle strap.
Officers called for him to stop repeatedly until he reached into his waistband and pulled out a black object that police thought was a gun, the review found. One officer fired six shots from his handgun and another fired five from a rifle. Wilson was struck once in his right leg and once in his lower jaw. He died later at a hospital.
The object Wilson pulled from his waistband was found to be a knife in a black case, and his family later wrote to police to say Wilson was determined not to return to jail and had talked of “suicide by cop.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Paul Westbrook, 37
June 19, 2014: Paul Westbrook, 37, was shot and killed by a Sacramento police officer after running from officers and turning toward them with a knife, Schubert’s Aug. 24, 2015, review found.
Two officers encountered Westbrook at about 4 a.m. walking through a restaurant parking lot near Marysville Boulevard and North Avenue and questioned him, then wished him good night and left, the review says. But after leaving the officers ran his name through a computer search and found he was the subject of two misdemeanor no-bail arrest warrants, one for driving under the influence, another for being a felon in possession of tear gas.
They returned and called out to Westbrook to stop, but he ran as the officers got out of their car to give chase on foot. One officer began to catch up to him in an alley when Westbrook pulled a knife from his waistband, the review found, and ignored orders to drop it. One officer fired two rounds striking him in the right hip and in the lower back.
Westbrook died at the scene, and a roommate later told investigators Westbrook had talked of committing “suicide by cop.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jose Cardenas Beltran, 22
June 21, 2014: Jose Cardenas Beltran, 22, was shot and killed by Sacramento police after threatening to kill his brother and officers with a large chef’s knife, Schubert’s Nov. 3, 2015 review found.
Police received two 911 calls at about 7:15 p.m. that Cardenas was intoxicated and armed and had chased his brother outside a home on Wheatley Circle.
Officers found the suspect in an empty farm field north of Interstate 80 and chased him as he shouted, “I am going to kill you” and “I am going to stab you,” the review found.
Cardenas ran until his path was blocked by a barbed-wire fence, then continued to threaten to stab officers or throw the knife at them, the review found. He charged at two of the officers with the knife held overhead and they fired a total of nine shots, striking him three times in the chest, left arm and right ankle. Cardenas later died at a hospital, and an autopsy found his blood alcohol level as .17 percent.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jose Manuel Reyes-Torres, 20
Aug. 7, 2014: Jose Manuel Reyes-Torres, 20, was shot and killed by a Folsom police officer after stabbing his aunt dozens of times and stabbing her 6-month-old son to death, Schubert’s June 26, 2015, review found.
The aunt, who survived approximately 32 stab wounds, told investigators her nephew entered her apartment looking “strange” and pale and told her, “I’m a dead man” before attacking her.
The officer, who was driving with a civilian ride-along observer, responded to a 911 call and found the aunt and another woman outside covered in blood and shouting about a knife and a baby, the review found. Reyes-Torres, covered in blood, came out of the apartment onto stairs above the officer and ran toward him screaming “with his arms raised in an aggressive manner,” the review found.
The officer decided he did not have time to holster his handgun and believed he would be killed if the suspect got hold of it, Schubert’s review found. The officer fired one shot from 10 feet away, striking Reyes-Torres in the chest. He continued to resist violently but was restrained and later died at a hospital.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jeffrey Leonard Matthews, 52
Jan. 22, 2015: Jeffrey Leonard Matthews, 52, was shot by Citrus Heights police officers after a confrontation in C-Bar-C Park during which he pointed a realistic looking airsoft handgun at them, Schubert’s Dec. 21, 2015 review found.
Matthews’ wife had called 911 at 7:19 that night to report he was suicidal and had what she thought was a .45-caliber handgun, the review states. Officers found Matthews in the park but he ignored their commands to put his hands up and not reach for weapons, the review found.
Instead, Matthews walked toward the officers and pulled the handgun from his waistband, which the officers believed was real, the review found. Two officers fired a total of three times, striking him once in the left hip. Matthews survived and later told officers he hoped officers would shoot him and that he had taken 100 valium pills and five morphine pills, the review said. When asked what he would have done if he had been one of the responding officers, Matthews replied, “I would have shot him,” the review said.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Joey Eldon Britt, 21
Feb. 7, 2015: Joey Eldon Britt, 21, was shot by two California Highway Patrol officers after a 45-mile highway chase during which Britt rammed law enforcement vehicles several times, Schubert’s Nov. 6, 2015, review found.
Britt stole a Ford F550 pickup truck with a long hose trailing from the back at a job site in Stockton, then led officers on a midday chase north on Interstate 5 that ended after he exited the freeway at Richards Boulevard, the review found. Britt allegedly committed a hit and run in Stockton before getting on the freeway, then escaped through the deployment of several spike strips, eventually driving the truck on steel rims after the ties blew out.
He ended up blocked in on Bercut Drive with officers shouting at him to show his hands, the review found. Instead of complying, Britt drove toward the officers and two of them fired a total of 12 shots, hitting him eight times. Britt survived and later pleaded no contest to two counts of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon and one of vehicle theft, Sacramento Superior Court online records show.
He was sentenced to six years and four months in prison.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jose Roberto Leon, 22
March 17, 2015: Jose Roberto Leon, 22, was shot by a California Highway Patrol officer after a traffic stop led to an afternoon carjacking and struggle, Schubert’s July 19, 2016, review found.
Leon was speeding westbound on Elkhorn Boulevard toward Dry Creek Road when a CHP motorcycle officer pulled him over and asked for identification. Leon provided an alias but no driver’s license and ran from the officer with a backpack toward the intersection, where he jumped into a Ford Bronco stopped at a red light.
Leon and the driver of the Bronco struggled as Leon tried to take control of the vehicle, and the CHP officer arrived on foot and shot him with his Taser. The device had no effect, and Leon told the officer, “I got a gun, you don’t want any part of it, get out of here,” the review found.
Leon began reaching into his backpack and the CHP officer ordered him to stop. Leon persisted, and the officer shot him a total of three times. The driver of the Bronco then fled the vehicle, and Leon sped off in it, calling his girlfriend to tell her he had been shot and had “jacked a car,” the review found.
He drove the Bronco to her neighborhood and parked 500 feet down the street, then went into her home in Natomas, where he refused to allow her or others to call police or a doctor.
A neighbor saw him park the car and called to report the vehicle, and police responded and began searching the neighborhood. When they came upon the girlfriend’s home they heard voices screaming “Help, he’s dying in there,” the review found. Police ordered the occupants of the house to come out, but did not immediately enter the home because of concern that Leon might be armed and because dispatchers had alerted them that officers had removed an AK-47 from the home in 2012.
A police robot later found Leon dead from gunshot wounds in a bedroom inside the home. No gun was ever found.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Sonny Benavides, 28
April 10, 2015: Sonny Benavides, 28, was shot by a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy after leading deputies on a foot chase during which he shot at two bystanders, Schubert said in a June 8, 2016, review.
Deputies were called to a 7-11 store in the 3600 block of Elkhorn Boulevard at 12:42 p.m. by a woman who reported she was being harassed by a man she did not know. Deputies saw Benavides, who matched the description the woman gave, and asked him to stop and remove his hands from his pockets.
Instead, Benavides ran from the deputies, attracting the attention of two passersby who tried separately to keep Benavides in sight for the deputies, the review found. Benavides fired one shot each at the two, but missed. A deputy caught up to him near a fence and fired one shot, hitting him in his left tricep.
Benavides survived his wound and pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with a firearm and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He is serving his time at Folsom State Prison, with a parole eligibility date of September 2020.
The district attorney’s review found the shooting was justified.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Arthur Mirzoyan, 47
April 11, 2015: Arthur Mirzoyan, 47, was shot by Rancho Cordova police after a confrontation outside his home where he accosted them with knives, Schubert’s March 29, 2016, review states.
Police were called to the home by a 911 call just before midnight to investigate reports of a “very drunk” and disturbed suspect trying to fight his son, the review states. Officers arrived and were speaking to the family outside when Mirzoyan came out of the house twice, the second time with a knife in each hand, the review found. He ignored commands to drop the knives, and as he tried to return to the home an officer shot him with a Taser.
The device did not stop Mirzoyan, who turned around “extremely agitated” and threw one of the knives, striking an officer in the leg, the review said. As Mirzoyan raised the other knife over his head and continued toward an officer, another officer shot him twice in the chest and abdomen. Mirzoyan survived, pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to 364 days in jail and five years probation, the review states.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Luis Chavez-Diaz, 27
April 29, 2015: Luis Chavez-Diaz, 27, was shot to death by a warden with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife investigating an illegal marijuana grow at the Stone Lakes Wildlife Refuge south of Sacramento, Schubert’s July 19, 2016, review found.
As officers approached they spotted Chavez-Diaz listening through the foliage and holding a handgun while he “was tracking their movements like a hunter,” the review found.
Officers shouted “Police, drop the gun!” and “Policia” several times, but the suspect continued tracking their movements and the warden, believing he was going to open fire, shot three rounds at him.
Chavez-Diaz died at the scene from a wound to his upper chest.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Matt Coates, 42
May 15, 2015: Matt Coates, 42, was shot to death by a Sacramento police officer after he grabbed a black handgun and pointed it at the officer inside his duplex home, Schubert’s April 6, 2016, review found.
Police were called to the 61st Street duplex by a neighbor who complained that Coates and his girlfriend were fighting and that when the neighbor went to their door to complain Coates punched him. Two officers knocked on Coates’ door and the girlfriend told them Coates was not home.
The officers insisted they needed to do a welfare check and went in with the girlfriend, the review found. During the search, one officer spotted someone hiding under a blanket in a bedroom and ordered them to show their hands.
“In response, the person raised one hand and extended his middle finger” at the officer, the review states. Moments later, Coates “popped up” from under the blanket, stood on a bed and told the officer, “Go ahead and shoot me,” the review said.
The officer backed into a hallway, followed by Coates, who suddenly grabbed a handgun off a shelf, racked it and pointed it at the officer.
The officer ordered Coates to drop the weapon and fired two shots. Coates fell out of the officer’s view and the two police officers and girlfriend went outside and called for backup.
Coates then crawled out of the home and was taken to a hospital, where he died from gunshot wounds. Police later determined the handgun was a plastic BB gun that officers thought was real, and discovered Coates had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder that month and was being treated for depression.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Paul Cantarutti, 28
May 21, 2015: Paul Cantarutti, 28, was shot by a Sacramento police officer after advancing on him while holding a knife, Schubert’s Dec. 21, 2015, review found.
Cantarutti was in a car with his mother downtown on I Street at about 6:13 p.m. when she pulled over and told a police sergeant in Cesar Chavez Park that “she was afraid of her son and he needed help,” the review found.
“She reported that he told her the car was going to blow up,” the review found. “She also believed that her son was under the influence of narcotics.”
An officer called Cantarutti over and saw as he approached that he was carrying a knife, the review found. The officer ordered him to drop the knife and asked another officer to use a Taser on him, but Cantarutti lunged at the first officer, who shot him three times, the review found.
Witnesses gave investigators different stories about what they saw, with one saying “Cantarutti was not doing anything aggressive at the time of the shooting,” the review said. Others said they saw Cantarutti move toward the officers, the review said.
Cantarutti survived and received a 16-month prison sentence. Sacramento County Jail records show Cantarutti was arrested again and booked July 21 on counts of resisting executive officers. He is being held without bail.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Eduardo Reyes, 35
June 22, 2015: Eduardo Reyes, 35, was shot to death by Citrus Heights police officers responding to a domestic violence report at a Greenback Lane apartment complex, Schubert’s March 20, 2017, review found.
Reyes had spent his day drinking nine or 10 beers while his wife was at work, and began arguing with her at about 6:30 p.m. because she had not turned on the air conditioning and the apartment was too hot, the review found.
Reyes’ wife called 911 to report he was being abusive to her and was using foul language in front of their children, a 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old twin boys.
After the call, Reyes went into the bedroom and pinned his wife to the bed and punched her, causing the daughter to call 911. Reyes then went to get his handgun from a lock box and, as the children fled the apartment, hit his wife twice in the back of the head with the pistol, then fired two rounds into the parking lot.
While he was firing, his wife called 911 again, but he returned and put the gun to her forehead, asking her for a reason not to kill her.
With police arriving, Reyes went out to the stairwell, pointed his gun at officers several times and fired, the review found. Officers who had taken cover in different areas of the lot opened fire. One fired three rounds from her handgun, another fired four rounds from a handgun and seven from his rifle, another fired 11 from his rifle and a fourth fired 12 from his handgun.
Reyes died from 20 gunshot wounds, and the review declared their actions were “justified.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Daniel Sanchez, 28
Sept. 10, 2015: Daniel Sanchez, 28, was shot by Sacramento sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of a neighbor firing multiple gunshots from a rifle, Schubert’s July 19, 2016, review found.
Deputies called Ben Ledford, a resident of the 2400 block of Negara Way, just after 2 p.m. to talk to him after a neighbor reported having an ongoing conflict with him. Ledford became “agitated” and complained about the neighbor, then put the phone down and loaded his Norinco Mak-90 Sporter assault rifle, the review found.
Then, with deputies still on the phone, Ledford began firing through his open window into his neighbor’s house and garage across the street.
“I’ll stop when all 800 of my rounds are gone,” Ledford said, according to the review. “I’ll stop shooting when they get here and then they can arrest all 133 pounds of me.”
Deputies converged on the block and heard “extremely loud and rapid gunfire” as dozens of rounds were fired and struck the lawn, driveway and garage door of a house, the review found.
Deputies could not tell which of two houses the shots were coming from, and saw a man crawling out of one who looked injured. They then spotted a second person walking slowly and crouching near a garage and holding a black object. A deputy flying overhead reported that the object looked like a weapon, and a deputy on the ground relayed information that the subject had a gun.
This resulted in two deputies firing 12 rounds at the man, who went back into the garage and closed the door.
The first subject deputies saw was detained and identified as Ledford, who told them, “I am the first shooter,” according to the review.
Other deputies were approached by a woman who said her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Sanchez, was inside the house and had called and told her he had been shot by law enforcement. While she was talking, Sanchez called her cell phone and a deputy took it and instructed him to come out of the house, the review said.
Sanchez emerged with a wound to his leg and said that when he was shot he was holding a cell phone trying to use the camera to view the shooting, the review said.
Sheriff’s officials later said they found a dead dog inside the home Ledford had been shooting at, and that the dog may have been the target of his ire. Court records show Ledford was charged with making threats, discharging a weapon into a home, possession of a machine gun and animal cruelty. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and is currently at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, with a parole eligibility date of April 2026.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Adriene Ludd, 36
Oct. 22, 2015: Adriene Ludd, 36, was shot to death by Sacramento sheriff’s deputies after he pointed a stolen assault weapon at them following a car chase, Schubert’s Oct. 26, 2016 review found.
The incident began when a deputy tried to pull Ludd over for driving with an expired license plate tag and Ludd refused to stop, the review found. After a three-minute chase in Carmichael, Ludd stopped his car, got out and pointed a Tec-22 semiautomatic pistol with a high-capacity magazine at them, witnesses told investigators.
Deputies opened fire for six seconds, then halted for about 40 seconds until one resumed firing because he saw Ludd moving and thought he was going to open fire, the review found.
Another deputy also fired at Ludd and saw a handgun fly into the gutter, then saw Ludd crawling toward it. At that point three deputies opened fire until he stopped a few feet from the weapon. Ludd died at the scene from 13 gunshot wounds and was found with a loaded MP-25 gun in his pants pocket and a 9 mm pistol in a bag in his car.
Investigators later found that the Tec-22 he pointed at deputies had jammed when he tried to fire at the deputies.
The shooting sparked protests by Black Lives Matter activists and others who say deputies used excessive force in the incident, but Schubert’s review found Ludd “orchestrated an ambush on the officers” and that they shot him in self defense.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Lance Allen Bernaix, 23
Jan. 26, 2016: Lance Allen Bernaix, 23, was shot by an Elk Grove police officer after he nearly ran him over with a stolen car, Schubert’s Nov. 28, 2016 review found.
Bernaix stole a running car from an Elk Grove driveway at about 7:10 a.m. and sped off while the car’s owner gave chase in another vehicle, the review found. Bernaix ended up in a residential cul de sac and was sitting in the parked car with an Elk Grove officer arrived and parked his motorcycle behind the stolen car.
The car suddenly reversed quickly, hitting the officer’s left leg and the motorcycle. The officer fired nine shots as the car reversed, then sped forward and crashed into a fence. Bernaix was shot three times in the back, twice in the left arm, twice in the right arm, once in the chest and once in the face but survived.
He pleaded no contest to stealing the vehicle and assaulting the officer with a deadly weapon - the car - and was sentenced to four years in prison. He is serving his sentence at Folsom State Prison.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Justin Prescott, 30
Feb. 2, 2016: Justin Prescott, 30, was shot to death by a Rancho Cordova police officer after a shoplifting incident mushroomed into Prescott threatening to kill himself with a knife, Schubert’s Nov. 28, 2016, review found.
Police were called at about 7 p.m. after Prescott was seen leaving the Walmart on Folsom Boulevard without paying for items he had taken.
Initially confronted by store security, Prescott pulled out a knife and held it to his throat and threatened to cut himself. He then took off into the parking lot, where he was confronted by two officers and refused their orders to drop his knife, saying, “I’m going to kill myself,” the review found.
The officers shot him with Tasers twice and pepper sprayed him in the face, but Prescott continued to hold the knife to his throat, then began slashing at his chest with it. The officers followed Prescott into a dimly lit alley, where they ended up close to him and feared he could attack them or escape and harm shoppers in the parking lot, the review found.
One officer fired two shots, striking him in the neck, forearm and abdomen. Prescott died at the scene, and the review found the officer who shot at Prescott acted in defense of himself and the other officer.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Dazion Jerome Flenaugh, 40
April 8, 2016: Dazion Jerome Flenaugh, 40, was shot to death by Sacramento police after a routine stop spiraled into an incident in which Flenaugh attempted to break into homes with a pickax, then ran at officers while holding two large knives, Schubert’s Jan. 11, 2017, review found.
Flenaugh, who relatives described as a mentally ill homeless man, was contacted by police at 8:30 p.m. on Prescott Way in south Sacramento after receiving a report of a suspicious person. Officers spoke to him, then offered to give him a ride to a home where he was staying and placed him in the back of a patrol car uncuffed.
The officers stepped away to speak to each other, but when they returned and opened the rear door, Flenaugh jumped out and ran down the street and jumped over a fence, the review found.
Officers followed as Flenaugh jumped over several fences, armed himself with a pickax and used it to attack the front door of a home and smash in the home’s back door glass. He fled to another home, broke in through the back door as a resident fled and armed himself with two knives, leaving the pickax behind, the review found.
Police swarmed the area and found Flenaugh in the street holding two large knives, the review found. He ignored orders to drop them and ran at one officer, who fired eight shots at him, the review found. Two other officers also fired a total of eight shots as he ran toward their colleague, the review found.
Flenaugh died from seven gunshot wounds, and the review found he posed “a significant and immediate threat of death.”
The shooting sparked protests by activists concerned about police killings of black men in Sacramento; the three officers were honored by the police department for their actions, earning the Bronze Medal of Valor.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jaime Ide
May 19, 2016: Jaime Ide, was shot to death by a Citrus Heights police officer after he savagely attacked his wife with a baseball bat, then emerged from a standoff at his apartment swinging a knife at police, Schubert’s June 15, 2017, review found.
Ide confronted his wife in their Birdcage Street apartment at about 3:45 p.m., accusing her of infidelity and threatening to kill her. He hit her repeatedly with a bat, tried to suffocate her with a piece of carpet and then a sock, the review found.
A neighbor called 911 to report sounds of a woman screaming and when an officer approached the door he could hear her and he called out to her. The door flew open and the woman ran out covered in blood and crying hysterically. As the officer led her away he heard the apartment door slam.
The woman told police her husband had no weapons that she knew of, and she was taken to a hospital for treatment. Police crisis negotiators came to the scene and spent several hours trying to convince Ide by phone to come out.
At about 8 p.m., an hour after their last phone call with him, officers were preparing to break down the door when they heard what sounded like 15 to 20 shots fired inside. At that point, SWAT officers took over.
At 10 p.m. Ide walked out the door holding a beer in his left hand, ignoring their commands to get down on the ground. Instead, as officers moved toward him he backed up, threw the beer to the ground and pulled a large kitchen knife out from behind his back, the review found.
Ide began swinging the knife about six feet from one officer, who fired three rifle shots that hit him in the chin, left chest and right chest, killing him.
Investigators found no firearms in the apartment, but discovered a frying pan containing oil, bullet remnants and one unfired cartridge on the stove.
The review found Ide was “easily within striking distance of the officer” and that the shooting was justified.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Sergey Mackarenko, 17
June 18, 2016: Sergey Mackarenko, 17, was shot to death by a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy after a car chase ended with him accelerating his car toward another deputy, Schubert’s June 29, 2017, review found.
Mackarenko was driving near El Camino Avenue and Butano Drive when a deputy saw him driving over traffic cones and tried to pull him over. Mackarenko refused to stop and began speeding through Carmichael until he ended up on a dead-end street with deputies in pursuit and a police helicopter hovering overhead.
Deputies with guns drawn ordered him to turn off the engine and open his window, the review found, but Mackarenko instead began accelerating in reverse toward a sergeant who was about to get out of his patrol car.
One deputy fired nine shots, striking Mackarenko seven times. The car stopped 5 feet from the sergeant, the review found.
No weapons were found on Mackarenko, but investigators found a tequila bottle in the car and the autopsy determined his blood alcohol level was .22 percent.
The district attorney’s review found the deputy was “justified” in firing to defend the sergeant.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Joseph Mann, 50
July 11, 2016: Joseph Mann, 50, was shot to death by Sacramento police after two residents in North Sacramento reported an angry looking man who they said was armed with a knife and a gun, Schubert’s Jan. 25, 2017, review found.
Officers who arrived found Mann waving a knife, threatening to “gut you” and acting belligerently, the review found. The officers tried to knock Mann down twice with their patrol cars and could not tell whether he had a gun in addition to the knife, the review found.
Two officers fired a total of 18 shots, killing Mann with 14 wounds in front of multiple witnesses.
The shooting sparked outrage in the community, and led to numerous reforms, including officers wearing body cameras and the department agreeing to routinely release videos in officer-involved shootings. The police chief retired shortly after the incident and the two officers also later left the department.
Mann family members filed two lawsuits, one of which was settled for $719,000.
The district attorney’s review found that “both officers believed Mann posed an imminent danger” and that the shooting was “justified.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Michael McClurg, 56
Aug. 8, 2016: Michael McClurg, 56, was shot and killed by Citrus Heights police officers after setting fire to his ex-wife’s car in Rancho Cordova, then summoning police by reporting he had a bomb in his driveway he planned to detonate, Schubert’s July 23, 2018, review found.
McClurg had been upset with his ex-wife and drove to her Rancho Cordova home, where the ex-wife’s adult son saw McClurg in the driveway with a jug of gasoline. McClurg told the son he was going to “burn the place down.” The son ran inside to get an unloaded handgun to scare McClurg away, but by the time he got back outside his car and his mother’s were both on fire and McClurg was back in his truck, the review found.
McClurg pointed what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun at him and the son went back inside to call 911.
McClurg then called a friend to tell him what he had done, and advised him that “he did not believe he would make it to work the next day,” the review found. McClurg then returned to his Citrus Heights home smelling like smoke, told his brother what he had done and ordered the brother to leave because “he did not want him to die.”
The brother called 911 from a neighbor’s house, and McClurg called 911 himself, saying, “I got a forty-five, and I got a f------ bomb set up right here on the f------ driveway,” the review found.
He called 911 a second time and repeated the threat.
Police responded and a sheriff’s helicopter reported that McClurg appeared to be in his driveway pouring liquid from a device toward his home.
Officers approached and spotted McClurg in his darkened driveway, but as soon as they turned their rifle-mounted flashlights on him he emerged pointing a handgun at them. They fired, and he ducked back into the garage. Officers ordered him to surrender the weapon, but he raised the gun toward them and they fired again. McClurg walked into the driveway pointing the handgun and they fired again.
He fell and dropped his gun, but “made motions as if he intended to recover his gun” and they fired at him again, the review found.
Investigators found officers fired 28 rounds and that McClurg was struck by at least six rounds.
Officers found a canister labeled acetylene on the driveway in a pool of gasoline. They also found a book of matches next to him with one match partially pulled out. The handgun turned out to be a Daisy BB pistol that resembled a semiautomatic handgun.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Chad Irwin, 40
Aug. 18, 2016: Chad Irwin, 40, was shot to death by a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy responding to a 911 hangup call from his Citrus Heights home, Schubert’s June 23, 2017, review found.
The hangup call came at 8:31 p.m. and at 8:40 p.m. two deputies arrived at the Irwin home and spoke to his wife. She told them she and her husband had argued earlier because he had been out drinking when he was supposed to be picking up their children, and that he had been mixing alcohol with prescription pain drugs, the review found.
She also told them that he had made suicidal comments in the past and had a knife, the review found.
A short time later, Irwin arrived home and parked and deputies approached, telling him he was not in trouble but that they wanted to talk.
“This is how it’s going to go down,” Irwin told the deputies, according to the review. “You know, you are going to shoot me.”
One deputy assured Irwin they did not want to shoot him, then saw he was holding a knife in his right hand and they drew their handguns, the review said. The deputies continued to tell him to put the knife down, but Irwin “brandished the knife with the blade facing out while moving his arm in a forward motion and rapidly advanced approximately three steps forward towards the deputies,” the review found.
One deputy fired 11 rounds, hitting Irwin seven times. He died at the scene.
Irwin’s wife later sued the county in Sacramento Superior Court, arguing that the deputies knew of Irwin’s mental state at the time and alleging their actions were reckless. The county agreed to settle the suit for $7 million on Jan. 11.
The district attorney’s review said the shooting was justified because the deputies faced “imminent danger.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jesse Attaway, 41
Sept. 23, 2016: Jesse Attaway, 41, was shot to death by Sacramento sheriff’s deputies responding to a predawn burglary report, Schubert’s May 24, 2017, report found.
Two deputies passed Attaway walking near Madison and Hazel avenues on the way to the burglary call. Moments later they got a description of the suspected burglar and realized it matched the man they saw walking. The deputies found him in a poorly lighted area at Mohawk Way and Piedra Way and ordered him to stop. Attaway was about 50 feet from them when he reached into his waistband, pulled something out and pointed it at them, the review found.
The deputies thought he pulled out a handgun and had taken a shooting stance and they fired at him. Attaway went to his knees, then raised the object in his hand and pointed it again, and the deputies fired at him again.
The deputies fired a total of 18 or 19 rounds, killing him. The item he pulled out and pointed at deputies turned out to be a wallet.
His daughters and father subsequently filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit alleging Attaway was unarmed and posed no threat to anyone.
The district attorney’s review ruled the shooting was “justified” and that the deputies “believed they needed to defend themselves and each other.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Jason King, 38
Oct. 28, 2016: Jason King, 38, was shot to death by California Highway Patrol officers after pointing what they believed was a handgun at them, Schubert’s Dec. 7, 2017, review found.
A CHP officer working near Date Avenue and Tyler Street saw King about 2 p.m. walking across the street outside a crosswalk and called over to him to use the crosswalk, the review found. “You f------ with me?” King responded, then pulled out a handgun from his waistband and held it at an angle but did not point it at the officer, the review found.
The officer got out of his car as King walked away and reported someone had pointed a weapon at him but that he was not sure whether it was a real handgun. Another officer arrived and followed King, honking his horn and calling over his public address speaker for him to stop and show his hands.
Initially, King jogged away but both officers got out of their vehicles and told him to show his hands, the review found.
Instead of complying, King pulled the gun out from under a sweatshirt and quickly advanced on them raising the weapon up and down and pointing it at them, the review found.
The officers fired, with one firing 19 rifle rounds and the other firing 12 from his handgun. King died from seven gunshot wounds. The weapon he had been holding was a Daisy BB pistol modeled to resemble a Beretta handgun, the review found.
The review determined “it was reasonable to believe that King had a real firearm and was going to use it on” the officers.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Logan Augustine, 17
Nov. 24, 2016: Logan Augustine, who was one day from turning 18, was shot to death by a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy after he called 911 from a 7-11 market and said he wanted officers to come because he “had a knife on him, and he was going to blow,” Schubert’s Sept. 13, 2017, review found.
Augustine had been riding with his father to a relative’s house for Thanksgiving at 1:10 p.m. when he got out of the vehicle at Walnut and Marconi avenues and went into the 7-11.
He called 911 from inside the store twice, rambling about the election, and when deputies arrived his father told them Augustine was bipolar but did not have a knife. As deputies entered the market, Augustine put his hands in his pockets and shouted, “I got a gun, I got a gun,” the review found.
He moved to the back of the store, where he pulled out a knife and began slashing at his own throat, and deputies screamed for him to drop the knife.
One deputy fired a non-lethal rubber bullet, and after being hit Augustine turned toward the other deputy five feet away and took a half-step forward. The deputy believed Augustine was going to stab him and fired one round from his 9 mm handgun. He died at the scene.
Augustine’s family filed a federal wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit that is pending.
The district attorney’s review found the shooting was “justified” and that the deputy acted in self defense.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Mikel Laney McIntyre, 32
May 8, 2017: Mikel Laney McIntyre, 32, was shot to death by Sacramento sheriff’s deputies after he attacked one deputy by hitting him in the head with a large rock, then fleeing toward Highway 50 and Zinfandel Drive, Schubert’s Nov. 20, 2018, review found.
The incident began at 4 p.m. when a deputy responded to a call from McIntyre’s family reporting an argument with him. McIntyre had been acting odd and the family used pepper spray on him and locked him out of the house, the review found. A deputy spoke to him and let him leave the area without detaining him.
About three hours later, a deputy responded to a call at a Rancho Cordova shopping area about a man choking and beating a woman. The incident involved McIntyre and his mother, and the deputy followed McIntyre on foot through a restaurant parking lot ordering him to stop.
The deputy drew his gun, then holstered it as he tried to grab McIntyre, who grabbed a large rock and threw it at the deputy, hitting him in the head and dazing him. The deputy recovered enough to fire two shots at McIntyre, who ran away. The deputy decided not to fire more rounds because McIntyre was running by a restaurant, the review found.
Other deputies arrived, and McIntyre hit one in the thigh with a rock and struck his K9 in the face with a rock. That deputy fired several shots as McIntyre fled, and another deputy fired multiple shots as McIntyre ran along Highway 50 until the K9 bit him and caused him to fall.
McIntyre later died at a hospital from seven gunshot wounds. Three deputies fired 28 rounds at McIntyre, the review found.
The shooting sparked outrage among activists and a federal civil rights lawsuit by McIntyre’s mother. The controversy also led to the ouster of county Inspector General Rick Braziel, who released his own review of the shooting before Schubert’s and declared that deputies fired an “excessive, unnecessary” number of rounds that put citizens at risk.
That finding outraged Sheriff Scott Jones, who locked Braziel out of his facilities, effectively ending his role in evaluating shootings involving deputies.
The district attorney’s review was issued three months after Braziel’s report and found the actions by the deputies “were reasonable.”
The review said that, “in hindsight, after careful consideration of all of the surrounding circumstances, there may have been tactical approaches that would not have involved the use of deadly force.”
But, the review added, McIntyre “posed a significant threat of death” and had committed “forcible and atrocious felony attacks” on two deputies. Schubert’s review concluded “that the shootings ... were lawful.”
Kenard Thomas, 38
June 13, 2017: Kenard Thomas, 38, was shot by a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy responding to a domestic violence restraining order violation, Schubert’s Aug. 27, 2018, review found.
Thomas’ ex-girlfriend reported that she saw him walk by her home in violation of the order and that she saw him enter a vacant home on 53rd Avenue with a gun in his waistband. She also told them that Thomas was violent and carried knives, the review found.
Four deputies searched the house, with two finally focusing on a back bedroom, where one of them began opening a closet when he saw Thomas’ face coming at him from 12 to 18 inches away, the review found.
The deputy backed up and fired one shot, later telling investigators, “I thought he had a knife, he had a gun, I thought he was coming to harm me.”
Thomas was hit in the shoulder and crawled out of the closet and dropped the object that was in his hand. It was a Bic lighter, the review found. Thomas survived and pleaded no contest to resisting an officer and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Thomas filed a federal excessive force lawsuit over the shooting in July that is pending.
The district attorney review found that the deputy “perceived Thomas as an imminent threat to his safety” at the time he fired.
“Given the circumstances of this particular case, it is not reasonably likely a jury of twelve individuals would unanimously agree that (the deputy) was unreasonable in his belief that he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury at the time of the shooting,” the review found.
Schubert’s review concluded “that there is no reasonable likelihood a jury would find the shooting by (the deputy) was criminal.”
Nolan Cornett, 24
July 19, 2017: Nolan Cornett, who was two days from turning 25, was shot to death by officers after he fired at one of them while they were responding to a 911 call from his mother, Schubert’s Aug. 31, 2018, review found.
A Sacramento sheriff’s deputy and Fulton-El Camino Park District police officer arrived at the mother’s Fair Oaks Boulevard home around 4 p.m. after Cornett’s mother called 911 to report he was acting erratically and she was concerned for her safety.
When the officers arrived, Cornett was standing in the street in front of the house and began walking toward them with his hands in his pockets, the review found.
The deputy told Cornett repeatedly to take his hands from his pockets and drew his handgun, then holstered it and began to draw his Taser when Cornett told the deputy to shoot him, the review found. Cornett then pulled a small pistol from his pocket and fired at the deputy once, the review found.
The deputy fired six times and the officer fired five rounds. Cornett was hit with four rounds and died at the scene.
The district attorney’s review found the shooting was “justified.”
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
Thomas Littlecloud, 32
Aug. 30, 2017: Thomas Littlecloud, 32, was shot to death by officers after killing a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy, wounding two California Highway Patrol officers and leading law enforcement on a car chase through Sacramento, Schubert’s Aug. 27, 2018, review found.
The incident began at 10 a.m. as officers from an auto theft task force spotted a stolen BMW in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard. Officers followed the vehicle and tried to pull it over, but the driver fled until being stopped in Elk Grove. The driver was on searchable probation, and officers found a key to room 234 at the motel, and returned to search it.
No one answered their knocks, and after using a pass key to try to get in someone fired multiple shots through the door from inside the room, wounding two CHP officers.
A deputy saw a man later identified as Littlecloud leap from the balcony and open fire with an AK-47 rifle. The deputy returned fire as Deputy Robert French responded and took up a position in the parking lot. Littlecloud fired at French, got into a Dodge Challenger and raced off with officers in pursuit.
French told colleagues he believed he had been hit by shrapnel, but soon discovered he had been shot in the chest. He later died at a hospital.
Littlecloud crashed into a power pole while driving 100 mph during the pursuit, and died three days later of multiple gunshot wounds.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shootings were lawful.”
Eric Arnold, 38
Sept. 7, 2017: Eric Arnold, 38, was shot to death by Sacramento police officers investigating the slayings of his girlfriend and her mother, Schubert’s Nov. 9, 2018, review found.
The incident began Sept. 1, 2017, with firefighters responding to a carbon monoxide alarm going off at a Janrick Avenue home. Firefighters arriving saw a pickup truck speeding away and called police because they considered it suspicious. Officers then entered the home and found the bodies of two women who had been shot and set on fire still smoldering in a bathtub.
Arnold was the boyfriend of one of the victims and officers began searching for him, eventually pulling him over six days later on 27th Avenue, where they ordered him to shut the engine off, drop the keys out the window and keep his hands up, the review found.
Arnold dropped the keys, then left the truck and began firing at officers, who returned fire until he fell to the ground, the review found.
Five officers fired a total of 36 rounds, the review found, and Arnold was hit 14 times and died at the scene.
The district attorney’s review found the danger Arnold posed “was immediate” and that “when he started shooting he created an obvious risk of death or great bodily injury” to the officers.
Schubert’s review concluded “that the shooting was lawful.”
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This story was originally published March 02, 2019 9:20 AM.
