Community outraged after man shot, killed by police at Taco Bell drive-thru in Vallejo

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- Vallejo police are conducting an investigation after an officer fatally shot a man sitting in his car while in a drive-through of a Taco Bell.

Sunday evening, a small group of family and friends of victim, Willie McCoy, 21, set-up a memorial across from the restaurant located in the very busy and very popular Vallejo Auto Mall Plaza.




"I'm outraged! This community is outraged!" says David Harrison, McCoy's cousin. "He's not robbing Taco Bell. He is in the drive-through trying to get something to eat!"

Vallejo police say they got a call just after 10:30 p.m. on Saturday about a Mercedes parked in the drive-through line, whose driver was slumped over. Once on scene, police check out the vehicle.

Broadcastify's audio stream captured police activity minutes before the shooting.

"Alright, car is locked, he is passed out. But the car is in drive. We need another unit," says one of the officers.




In a statement to ABC7 News, Vallejo police claim McCoy had a gun in his lap. They say when McCoy started to move, they told him to keep his hand visible. They went to say, "The driver quickly reached for the handgun on his lap. In fear for their own safety, the officers discharged their weapons at the driver."

Marc McCoy, Willie's older brother doesn't buy the police version of the story, and says Vallejo P.D. didn't have to shoot his brother.

"(Then to) wake him up out of sleep? Come on now, if you wake up out of your sleep, you're going to do some kind of movement," says Marc. "And that can be a threatening movement... to police."

Marc admits his brother had been in trouble with the law in the past. He says he doesn't know why his brother may have been slumped over, but says the rapper had being touring and was exhausted.




The family says they are looking into conducting their own investigation.

The Vallejo police statement says officer immediately requested medical assistance and began life saving efforts after the shooting, but that McCoy died at the scene. It also says that, "A loaded handgun was recovered from the vehicle."

The incident is also being investigated by the Solano County Fatal Incident Protocol.