The shooting on July 20 stemmed from an armed carjacking. Police said they attempted to stop the vehicle near Broadway and Mahogany Drive after locating it.
According to police, 44-year-old Rommel Querol drove the stolen vehicle into a dead-end area before officers confronted him.
PREVIOUS: Vallejo police fatally shoot carjacking suspect after brief exchange of gunfire, authorities say
"It was that 911 call about an armed carjacking that led to this Vallejo Police response, when the vehicle in question was spotted," police said during the community presentation.
Police said, "Officer Sandy started giving verbal commands to the vehicle's occupants at which time the driver produced a high powered rifle from the vehicle."
Body camera footage shown during the community meeting appeared to show gunfire exchanged between Querol and officers. Police pointed to what they described as a muzzle flash visible in the video and said it came from a ghost gun AR-15-style rifle equipped with a high-capacity magazine. Authorities said the magazine still contained 21 live rounds after the shooting.
Police said officers fatally shot Querol and also said he had previously served prison time for voluntary manslaughter.
Dozens of community members attended the meeting, including Querol's girlfriend, Jasmine Smith, who is pregnant with his son. Smith became emotional as she listened to the gunfire recordings during the gathering, which took place two weeks after the incident.
"They should have evaluated him to make sure he was in the right mind to make sure he could come out after 15 years," Smith said. "Yeah and he didn't want to go back either he wanted to die by the police basically so."
Smith said Querol, who was on parole, struggled after his release from prison and had repeatedly said he did not want to return.
"When he got caught with the gun in May, it made him scared, he said wasn't gonna go back, he'd die before he go back, so he died," Smith said before breaking down in tears.
Police said the shooting was the first fatal officer-involved shooting in Vallejo in six years.
The city and county are both conducting investigations into the incident.