A Riverside police officer shot and killed a man in his 50s Sunday night near University and Douglas avenues, and now a father and daughter who say they watched the entire encounter are disputing the key detail police used to justify opening fire. The man died at a hospital after the shooting, which happened around 9:30 p.m., and an investigation is underway to determine exactly what happened.
Officer Says Man Threw Rock, Carried Knife
According to ABC7, the officer told dispatch that the man had thrown a rock at his vehicle and was armed with a knife. That account, relayed by police, is the basis for the official version of what triggered the confrontation near University and Douglas avenues in Riverside.
But a father and daughter who told Eyewitness News they witnessed the entire encounter offered a sharply different picture. The pair said the officer yelled at the man to stop walking away, and that the man then turned around before the officer fired several shots. Critically, the station's report notes the witnesses said they did not see a knife or any other weapon on the man at any point, directly contradicting the officer's claim that he was armed.
Man Taken to Hospital, Later Dies
The man was taken to the hospital, where he later died, per the same account. Beyond his age, the evidence reviewed does not identify him by name or provide further details about who he was.
An investigation is underway to determine exactly what happened during the encounter, the report states. Riverside police have not yet reconciled the officer's dispatch account with the witnesses' description of events, and it remains unclear which version, if either, will be borne out as the inquiry proceeds.
A 2021 Riverside Police Shooting
In a March 2021 case near the UC Riverside campus, a Riverside police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Jehlani Black, a graffiti vandalism suspect. Then-Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said video evidence showed Black turning toward the officer with a gun in his right hand, telling the Redlands Daily Facts, “He turned toward the officer with the gun in his right hand.” Riverside police released critical incident video of that shooting about a week later, on March 17, 2021.
Under California law, a state prosecutor is required to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian, according to the text of AB 1506 on file with California Legislative Information. Whether that provision applies to Sunday's shooting has not been established, and the available evidence does not resolve whether the man was in fact unarmed when he was shot.
