Hayward police shooting: Body cam footage released, officers say suspect admits incident 'was his fault'

Amanda del Castillo Image
Friday, May 29, 2020
Hayward police shooting: Body cam footage released, officers say suspect admits incident 'was his fault'
A Hayward man shot by police is out of the hospital and now in jail. Newly released body camera footage gives insight into how the shooting unfolded.

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- The suspect in Wednesday's officer-involved shooting in Hayward is out of the hospital and is now in jail.

New video released by the Hayward Police Department shows the moments before the man in his 60's was shot in his driveway. Many online are calling actions by police, excessive.

RELATED: Man hospitalized after officer-involved shooting in Hayward, police say

A "Critical Incident" video by Hayward PD details the timeline of Wednesday's afternoon incident.

At a press conference on Thursday, video of the initial confrontation, police scanner audio, a picture of the suspected weapon, and the body-camera footage of two officers were released.

As officers approached the man's driveway, the suspect and PD exchanged words. At one point, the man yells about his frustration and disappears into his garage. Seconds later, he walks back into the driveway with something in his hand.

Among the stern requests to drop the object, you hear one officer shout, "Come on let's talk about this," before a Taser is deployed and shots are fired.

Police say the suspect was holding a knife.

RELATED: Man killed in officer-involved shooting in Hayward neighborhood, police say

Chief Toney Chaplin said the department shared the footage and other evidence in response to a video posted to social media. According to police, the video was recorded by someone related to the suspect, shared with police, and then posted online.

"Then social media popped up, and things were saying he didn't have anything in his hand," Chief Chaplin told reporters. "And there was some other things on social media that were factually incorrect that we wanted to set the record straight, quite frankly."

Other video released by Hayward PD showed what the department said was the start of the incident.

"You just tried to hit me? I asked if you were okay," a driver yelled from inside his car, as he addressed to the suspect. "What is wrong with you?"

After a brief, but heated verbal confrontation, the argument somehow turned into a chase. According to police, the suspect, on motorcycle, went looking for that man.

RELATED: Napa County releases graphic video of officer-involved shooting

PD reported neighbors who called 9-1-1 said the suspect was also banging on doors in his search.

Soon after, the man was back in his own driveway, where he was met by police.

Many online question the officer's use of force.

Retired SFPD Commander Richard Corriea, now the director of USF's International Institute on Criminal Justice Leadership weighed in.

"You could have a situation where one second a Taser is an appropriate weapon, and within a millisecond, it becomes not the appropriate weapon," Corriea shared. "So, I don't think the video, at this point is dis-positive or raises any concerns. It's just another fact that has to be analyzed."

Corriea added, "The community becomes concerned, fearful and upset seeing something like this and hearing of it. That said, the appropriate response from the department is to be transparent, as much as they can without damaging their investigative endeavors."

RELATED: Off-duty Los Angeles police officer arrested in shooting of another officer during camping trip

At Thursday's press conference, Chief Chaplin explained there are three on-going investigations related to the shooting incident. One investigation, conducted by HPD's homicide unit. Another by HPD's Internal Affairs Unit. A third is an independent investigation being conducted by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.

"We all focus on that moment of the incident and the use of force," Corriea shared. "Our future is going to be about looking a long ways back. Saying, 'How did everybody end up there at that point? And could we have intervened sooner somehow as a society?'"

He added, "There's always an opportunity to learn something. At this point though, we don't know what those learning moments are."

At the press conference, Chief Chaplin told reporters the suspect took responsibility before being released from the hospital.

"He admitted to retrieving the knife and lunging at the officers with a knife and he apologized," Chaplin claimed. "He said basically, it was his fault."

The suspect was booked into the Santa Rita Jail, and currently faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer.

ABC7 News has reached out to a member of the suspect's family, but have not heard back.