By Michael McGough
Source The Sacramento Bee
SWAT deputies responding to a hostage situation last month in south Sacramento opened fire on the suspect almost immediately after he exited a residence with his girlfriend next to him and a shotgun in his hand, video released Wednesday by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office showed.
The Sheriff’s Office released body camera and drone video, as well as 9-1-1 audio, from an incident last month in which two SWAT officers shot and killed a man who had allegedly held his girlfriend hostage and threatened her with a shotgun inside a south Sacramento home. The man also threatened to shoot deputies, the videos showed.
The shooting happened the morning of Oct. 18 just outside a home in the 3900 block of 41st Street, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Vincent Martinez, 55, of Sacramento, was identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as the man fatally shot by deputies.
Deputies opened fire on Martinez within seconds of him walking out of the house, video showed. He was not pointing the gun at his girlfriend, who was standing a few feet away from him, or at deputies when they opened fire.
Two deputies assigned to a Sheriff’s Office SWAT team fired six total shots, striking Martinez at least once. Deputies attempted medical aid, but Martinez was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident began as a domestic violence call, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Martinez’s adult daughter called 9-1-1 shortly after 10 a.m. after leaving the home with her boyfriend and 3-year-old son, according to the audio release.
“My dad pulled out a shotgun on me right now, and he was beating up his girlfriend,” she told dispatchers.
The daughter also told authorities Martinez “smokes crystal meth” and that he may have been high at the time.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Rodney Grassmann in a video news release said Martinez was “defiant” with arriving law enforcement and that he told negotiators he was armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun, “and that he was going to shoot a deputy and his girlfriend in 3 minutes.”
In body camera video taken from inside a Sheriff’s Office vehicle, Martinez can be heard on the phone with crisis negotiators.
“Oh, I know you can hear me. I am going to go out there and shoot every cop I see,” Martinez can be heard saying at 11:23 a.m.
Four minutes later, at 11:27 a.m., Martinez exited the residence with the shotgun in his right hand and pointed upward, body camera video from two SWAT deputies showed. He was dressed in all black.
His girlfriend, wearing a white shirt, was walking to Martinez’s immediate left with her hands raised. She was directly between Martinez and the deputies at first, but stopped walking as Martinez continued down the porch steps.
“He’s got a gun,” a deputy can be heard saying in the body camera video.
Less than a second later, two deputies fired six total rifle shots at Martinez. The Sheriff’s Office did not say how many rounds struck the suspect.
The girlfriend, whose face is blurred in the video, retreated back inside the home moments after the shooting. She was not hit by gunfire, authorities said.
The shotgun, recovered at the scene, was loaded with one round of birdshot and three rounds of buckshot, Grassmann said.
The Sheriff’s Office also released a brief video clip captured by a drone at the scene. The drone was positioned in front of and above the front door of the residence. Taken together, the drone and bodycam videos appear to show Martinez was looking up, directly at the drone, when the deputies shot him.
Grassmann said one deputy, a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, fired one shot; the second deputy, a seven-year veteran, fired five shots.
Grassmann in the video news release said deputies planned to either enter the home in an effort to rescue the hostage or to deploy a K-9 if Martinez exited alone. A police dog can be seen, staged at the corner of the building with the rest of the SWAT officers; it was not deployed, the videos showed.
The Sheriff’s Office in a news release said Martinez had an “extensive” criminal history.
Grassmann in Wednesday’s video release said Martinez had been verified previously as a Varrio Franklin Boulevard Norteño gang member, with a rap sheet dating back to 1985.
According to the sheriff’s news release, there had been no calls for service at the involved address within the past year.
The Sheriff’s Office’s homicide bureau and professional standards division will internally investigate the officer-involved shooting, in line with department policy.
The incident will also be reviewed by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the county’s inspector general, the Sheriff’s Office said.
________
©2022 The Sacramento Bee.
Visit sacbee.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
