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VIDEO: Bystander records deputy killing a homeless man.
DANVILLE — Video released by a local civil rights attorney shows a Contra Costa Sheriff’s deputy shooting and killing a homeless man from a distance of a few feet, less than 2½ years after the same deputy shot and killed another man in Danville.
The video — shot by an eyewitness to the March 11 incident from about a half-block away — shows Deputy Andrew Hall fatally shooting 32-year-old Tyrell Wilson. The camera briefly moves behind a car door moments before the fatal shot is fired, but video shows Wilson taking a step back from Hall and the deputy stepping toward him shortly before the shot.
The sheriff’s office said in a news release following the shooting that Wilson pulled out a folding knife when confronted by the deputy, who suspected Wilson of throwing rocks at cars. Well-known Bay Area civil attorney John Burris, who is representing Wilson’s family, called it a “cold murder.”
“Wilson never had a chance,” Burris said in a news release, adding that he sent a letter to Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton asking Hall to be charged criminally. Burris said 25 minutes went by before anyone attempted to render medical aid to the wounded Wilson.
Burris also contested the allegation that Wilson was throwing rocks at cars, saying Wilson was walking to the homeless encampment where he was known to stay.
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office, which declined comment after a protest march and vigil March 29 from the shooting site to Danville police headquarters, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday night. An attorney with the law firm that represents Hall told a reporter to call back during normal business hours.
For Hall, the fatal shooting was the second time he’s gunned down a man in Danville under controversial circumstances. In November 2018, Hall shot and killed 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda during a daytime slow-speed police chase in Danville.
In that incident, video shows Hall stopping his car, exiting, and running around the other side of a sedan driven by Arboleda. Hall then backpedals, firing his pistol as he does so, then continues to shoot as the car travels past him. He later testified at an inquest hearing he was afraid Arboleda would run him over. An internal probe by the sheriff’s office cleared Hall, but the District Attorney is still investigating the matter.
Hall was placed on paid leave after shooting Wilson, a sheriff’s spokesman said at the time.
Burris is representing Arboleda’s family in an active federal suit and says he plans to sue on behalf of Wilson’s family. He is planning a Tuesday news conference to announce the Wilson suit.
“That shooting was so outrageous that we wrote a letter to the Contra Costa District Attorney asking them to criminally [prosecute] Hall,” Burris said in the news release. “They didn’t and now he has killed another innocent man. Enough is enough. This officer is a menace.”
