Video Footage Captures California Deputy Shooting Black Man Within A Minute

Newly released video footage captures a white California Deputy stationed in the San Francisco Bay Area shooting down a black man in the middle of a busy intersection about a minute after attempting to stop the man on suspicion of throwing rocks at vehicles last month.
The officers body cam shows the deputy, Andrew Hall, shooting thirty-three-year-old Tyrell Wilson within seconds of asking him to drop a knife. The body cam video was released Wednesday, the same day that prosecutors charged Hall with manslaughter and assault charges in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Filipino man that happened more than two years ago.
These charges came a day after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. A Black man whose death last May initiated a national reckoning for racial injustice and police brutality.
In the video footage, you can hear Hall calling out to Wilson and walking toward him on March 11 as Wilson appeared to be walking away. Wilson then turns towards the deputy, armed with a knife saying,” Touch me and see what’s up.”
As they stood in the middle of the intersection, Deputy Hall asked Wilson three times to drop the knife as Wilson made a motion toward his face, saying, “Kill me.” Hall then shoots once, and Wilson drops to the ground as drivers watch and record video.
The entire situation between Deputy Hall and Wilson lasted about a minute.
The attorney of the Wilson family released another video Thursday that was taken by someone who stopped at the intersection.
“It doesn’t seem like he was doing anything,” someone says. After Hall shoots Wilson, which was clearly shown on the video, another person says, “Oh, my God. … this dude just got shot and killed, bro.”
Attorney John Burris said that Hall was unnecessarily aggressive toward Wilson. He was not causing any issues and clearly was backing away from Hall before he was shot with Hall giving any warning.
“This was a homeless man. He was walking away, minding his own business. He’s basically saying go away, leave me alone,” Burris said. “You felt compelled to kill him.”
Sheriff David Livingston, of Contra Costa County says the video shows Wilson was threatening Hall and was allegedly throwing rocks at drivers.
“He did threaten Officer Hall,” Livingstons said. “And he did start advancing toward Officer Hall in the middle of a major intersection. Officer are forced to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and the public, and that’s what happened here.”
Prosecutors have faced a growing outcry over Wilson’s death. The community has criticized saying prosecutors took way to long to make a decision in the 2018 killing that Hall carried out. Hall shot 33-year-old Laudemar Arboleda nine times during a car chase that was slow-moving.
Attorney Burris, who is also the attorney for the Arboleda’s family, says that if prosecutors acted more quickly in the Arboleda case, then Tyrell Wilson may still be alive today. Burris added that both men faced mental illness.
The district attorney for Contra Costa County said it charged Hall with felony voluntary manslaughter and felony assault with a semi-automatic gun in the Arboleda case.
“Officer Hall used reasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit involving Laudemar Arboleda, endangering not only Mr. Arboleda’s life but the lives of his fellow officers and citizens in the immediate area,” District Attorney Diana Bection said in a news release.
Harry Stern, the attorney for Hall, said that prosecutors previously ruled that the deputy’s use of force in the 2018 case were justified, “given the fact that he was defending himself from a lethal threat. The timing of their sudden reversal in deciding to file charges seems suspect and overtly political.”
Police pursued Arboleda at a slow pace through the city of Danville after someone reported a suspicious person in November 2018. Bodycam footage shows Hall stopping his patrol car, getting out and running towards the sedan that Arboleda was driving. Suddenly Hall opened fire, continuing to shoot as Arboleda’s car passed by, hitting him 9 times.
Hall testified in a court hearing saying that he was afraid for his life as he assumed Arboleda would run him over with his car.
The district attorney’s office says the Wilson shooting is currently under investigation.