Then-Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the officer feared that “he was about to be shot” after Murrietta-Golding “reached into his waistband several times,” the Fresno Bee reported, including when he glanced back at the officers.
But in the video, the teenager appears to pull up sagging pants after scaling the gate and nearly falling. Body camera footage of the traffic stop also appears to show his pants falling. The teenager then continues to run away from the officer as Villalvazo levels his pistol to fire.
In a statement, Chief Andy Hall declined to address specifics about the video. But he bolstered the officer’s defense by saying Murrietta-Golding was “known to carry firearms” and that the danger to civilians had intensified because he had jumped into a “child-day-care center.”
However, the incident took place on April 15, a Saturday before Easter. The day-care center was unoccupied, Chandler said. And the investigation determined the trajectory of the bullet led to the day-care window, Chandler said, which could have posed a danger if children had been present.