RICHMOND — Two months after six officers from Richmond and Oakland shot and killed a Vallejo man suspected of fatally injuring a woman, police from both departments released video showing officers firing dozens of shots at the man, then moving in to rescue an officer who’d been hit by the suspect’s van.
The three body camera video angles, released Tuesday evening, depict the tail end of a chaotic incident on April 16, in which 24-year-old old Juan Ayon-Barraza, allegedly mortally injured Vallejo resident Tamisha Thomas, dumped her lifeless body near Moraga, and led police on a chase before the officers shot and killed him.
The harrowing video shows a point-of-view angle from Richmond Ofc. Joe DeOrian, who fires several shots through the windshield and driver’s side window of his own patrol car as Ayon-Barraza passes by in a van. Richmond police Chief Bissa French said Ayon-Barraza raised a gun at DeOrian before he starts shooting.
It is unknown if DeOrian struck Ayon-Barraza, but the van continues in a straight trajectory, heading for an Oakland patrol SUV. The van crashes into the SUV, running over an Oakland officer, then rolls backwards at a slow speed.
As the van lumbered forward the SUV, the five Oakland officers begin to fire. The continues for several seconds as DeOrian continues in his patrol car, reloads his service weapon, exits the car, then fires at least twice more at the van.
The officers then rushed in to assist the officer who was struck by Ayon-Barraza’s van. They appear distressed as several pull the officer into a patrol car, screaming, “Where were you shot? Where were you shot?”
The injured officer replies that he was run over, not shot. He suffered several broken bones and is expected to recover, French said.
The video release also includes body camera footage from an Oakland officer who was inside the SUV that was struck. He is seen shooting through the patrol car’s windshield at the white van, as it approaches. This footage, and DeOrian’s footage, are the only two released videos from officers who fired.
The Oakland officers who fired were identified as 14-year veteran Officer Michael Finnicum; 12-year veteran Officer Benjamin Sarno; 5-year veteran Officer Kyle Gaskin; 5-year veteran Officer Robert Recendez; and 3-year veteran Officer Matthew Hohn.
At the time of his arrest, Ayon-Barraza had an active arrest warrant for failing to complete a class as part of a domestic violence sentence. That stemmed from a case where he was alleged to have held a knife to a San Pablo woman’s throat and sexually assaulted her in front of a child. The case resulted in a plea deal and a jail sentence.
Police have not disclosed how Ayon-Barraza knew Thomas, nor has the suspected motive been released. He reportedly mocked her family after attacking her, then disappeared for several hours until he turned up in the East Bay hills, near Moraga, with her body wrapped in a rug or blanket, according to police.
Thomas remained at a hospital, on life support, for several weeks before she died.
It is unknown whether the other four officers who fired — some of whom shot point blank into the van — activated their body cameras. No footage of the shooting from those officers has been released thus far.
Because of SB 1421, a new state law that took effect last year, police departments are required — with some exceptions — to release body camera footage of use-of-force incidents.
The video — including a helicopter angle that had been previously made public — can be seen here. It is graphic and contains profanity:
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