On the same day Contra Costa County Sheriff Deputy Andrew Hall was charged with manslaughter and assault for shooting and killing an unarmed Filipino man during a slow speed pursuit last year, authorities released video of Hall shooting a Black man during a confrontation last month.
Yes, you read that right: a deputy charged with manslaughter from a shooting last year was still armed and on patrol when he shot and killed another man last month.
Hall was charged with firing nine shots through the windshield of a vehicle driven, at low speed, by 33-year-old Laudemar Arboleda in an incident last year. Hall jumped out of his police car as Arboleda navigated slowly toward an intersection with other police cars following him. Hall then walked up to Arboleda’s vehicle and fired nine shots directly into the windshield of the vehicle.
Last month, Hall had a confrontation with 33-year-old Tyrell Wilson, a Black man who Hall alleges was standing in the middle of a busy intersection and throwing rocks at passing cars. Hall was holding a knife in his hand, according to the bodycam footage.
Wilson was walking away from Hall when Hall said something to Wilson, prompting him to turn back to face Hall. “Touch me and see what’s up,” Wilson says. Standing still, Wilson then gestured to his forehead and said, “Kill me.” Hall fired once, killing Wilson.
A bystander who was filming the interaction is heard on his recording saying, “It doesn’t seem like he was doing anything.” After Hall shoots Wilson, which can be clearly seen in the video, another person says, “Oh, my God. … This dude just got shot and killed, bro.”
Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said Wilson was threatening to Hall. “He did threaten Officer Hall. And he did start advancing toward Officer Hall in the middle of a major intersection. Officers are forced to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and the public, and that’s what happened here.”
A lawyer for Wilson’s family, however, says that Wilson was a homeless man and was not threatening Hall or anyone else, claiming that Wilson was unnecessarily aggressive toward Wilson.
“This is a homeless man, he’s walking away, minding his own business. He’s basically saying go away, leave me alone,” attorney John Burris said. “You felt compelled to kill him.”
In Arboleda’s homicide, the Contra Costra district attorney charged Hall with felony voluntary manslaughter and felony assault with a semi-automatic firearm.
“Officer Hall used unreasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit involving Laudemer Arboleda, endangering not only Mr. Arboleda’s life but the lives of his fellow officers and citizens in the immediate area,” District Attorney Diana Becton said in a news release.