Video released by Sheriff Chad Bianco is providing some answers Thursday about an incident in which a probationer was fatally shot during a confrontation with Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and police officers from Hemet and Riverside.
The video appears to show that the man was armed with a pistol and a Taser which law enforcement officers evidently believed he was trying to draw on them when they opened fire.
“When we have a critical incident, we want to share as much information as we can when the investigation allows,” Bianco said in the four-minute video that was posted to the sheriff’s social media page and the Riverside Police Department social media site Wednesday night. “We take each use of force incident very seriously and make every effort to de-escalate these situations whenever possible.”
Bianco said that 20-year-old Joseph Tracy IV of Colton was on active probation when members of the Gang Impact Team, composed of deputies, Riverside and Hemet police officers, attempted to contact him about 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 18 at a motel in the 2600 block of West Florida Avenue in Hemet.
Tracy was suspected of dealing fentanyl from his room, and multiple law enforcement officers deployed around the location, waiting for him to come out of the building to detain him, rather than risk an engagement inside the lodge, according to the sheriff.
“Tracy ran from deputies and officers who tried to stop him by deploying 40mm less-lethal munitions,” Bianco said. “Deputies and officers also gave him commands to stop running and to show his hands. Tracy continued to run away and ran between vehicles parked in the parking lot of the motel.”
Body-camera footage from one of the Gang Impact Team members was played during the video. In it, a lawman is heard shouting, “He’s reaching, he’s reaching, he’s reaching — I don’t know what he’s reaching for.”
Another lawman shouts, “Get on the ground!”
As the foot pursuit continues, 40mm rounds are being fired in rapid succession in the probationer’s direction.
The video does not clearly show Tracy being shot, but the sound of gunfire envelopes the audio. Multiple shots were unleashed, according to the video.
“Paramedics responded to the location and pronounced Tracy dead at the scene,” the sheriff said.
No law enforcement personnel were injured.
According to Bianco, a 9mm “ghost gun,” assembled from homemade parts, was found in the probationer’s possession, loaded with seven rounds. Additionally, Bianco said a Taser was found on him.
Back in the hotel room, “a powder substance identified as fentanyl was located,” the sheriff alleged.
He said that the California Department of Justice is investigating the deadly shooting. That investigation parallels independent and separate use-of-force investigations being conducted by the sheriff’s department, Riverside Police Department and Hemet Police Department.
The work status of the law enforcement officers involved was not disclosed.