[kellyhound]

The Butte County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday released dashboard camera video of the fatal police shooting of a man Thursday in a Camp Fire evacuation zone.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he believes the video clearly shows the moments before multiple law enforcement officers opened fire on 48-year-old GD H. of Berry Creek.

H., who had been sought since around June for parole violations and was a “prime suspect” in a double homicide investigation in Butte County, allegedly pointed a “metallic object” toward officers following a high-speed chase along Highway 70 that started in the Concow area and ended near Butte Valley, Ramsey said.

H. was struck at least twice, once in the torso area and once in the head, the district attorney said. He died on the scene.

A Sutter County Sheriff’s Office police dog, Bandit, also was killed by gunfire. A pit bull associated with H. also was shot dead.

Ramsey said officers recovered a steel pipe that H. allegedly raised toward officers, imitating an “armed attack on officers,” before officers shot him.

No firearms were found on him or in his car. Several folding and fixed-blade knives were found on H. after he was shot.

The district attorney also released a photo of the steel pipe Tuesday.

Ramsey said it appeared H. “may have committed what is referred colloquially to as ‘suicide by cop.'”

The video, which is nearly two minutes long, shows officers stopped behind H’s car, yelling at him multiple times to show and raise his hands in the air.

Seconds before he is shot, he appears to open his driver’s side door and emerges from the vehicle, turning suddenly and extending his arms in the air with his hands clasped together.

The Butte County Officer Involved Shooting/Critical Incident Protocol Team, which is overseen by Ramsey, is investigating the shooting.

The district attorney said he decided to release partial video of the incident for several reasons, including transparency, the clarity of the video’s depiction of what happened and the public’s interest in the case.

He said the final results of the investigation will take some time.

H. was well known to local law enforcement. He was a person of interest in the December 2014 slayings of Plumas County residents Peter “Mike” Kroencke, 59, and his wife, Olga Kroencke, 56.

The Kroenckes were found shot to death in their SUV Dec. 20, 2014, between property they owned on the 400 block of Galen Ridge Road and Hendrix’s residence in the 300 block of Galen Ridge Road, according to a Chico Enterprise-Record article published in January 2015.

H. and the Kroenckes reportedly knew each other.

A search warrant served at H’s home at the time uncovered a shotgun, handgun and a pipe bomb, Ramsey said. H. was later arrested Jan. 6, 2015, at the Canyon Creek Roadhouse store in Berry Creek.

At the store H. was found armed with an AK-47-type rifle, a .223 pistol, a .22 revolver, a dagger and brass knuckles, the district attorney said.

H. ultimately pleaded no contest in March 2016 to felony counts of possession of a destructive device and possession of a methamphetamine while armed.

Superior Court Judge James Reilley sentenced H. to seven years, four months in state prison, according to court transcripts.

At his sentencing Nov. 9, 2016, deputy district attorney Leah Payne said H. was not “initially cooperative” when deputies tried to arrest him at the store.

“It could have gone much, much messier than it did,” Payne said, according to the transcripts. “And, in fact, he made the comment when they arrested him that they should have just shot him. He was reaching in his jacket … where loaded firearms and illegal assault weapons were found. He is a public safety risk.”

But while H. was identified a person of interest in the killings of the Kroenckes, he was not, and never has been, directly charged in their deaths.

Ramsey, who called H. a suspect in the double homicide investigation after he was fatally shot by law enforcement, said Monday that his office had been in discussions with the Sheriff’s Office about the case but it never reached his office “on a request for a complaint.”

The district attorney said while H. was strongly suspected in the deaths of the Kroenckes, the evidence against H. never rose to a level beyond a reasonable doubt.

About a year ago, he said, it was pointed out that investigators needed additional forensic evidence.

The Sheriff’s Office was pursuing that evidence, as well as eliminating potential defenses that could emerge, up until the day H. was killed.

Ramsey said investigators obtained “stronger evidence” in the case but were still “methodically” eliminating potential “excuses” H. could have come up with.

A part of the ongoing forensic work, the district attorney said, was linked to a shotgun believed used in the killings. The shotgun had potential glass inside it that may have come from glass blown out from the Kroenckes’ SUV.

The Kroenckes were shot through the windows of their vehicle, Ramsey said. Investigators were eliminating other potential sources for the glass.

The district attorney added that once the Sheriff’s Office had completed its investigation, it would have “most likely” led to H. being charged.

A call to a sheriff’s investigator Monday regarding the status of the homicide investigation was not returned.

Before H. was sentenced in 2016 on weapons and drug violations, he submitted a letter to the court expressing remorse for his actions. In the letter, he appeared to make reference to the Kroenckes’ deaths.

“I lived in a remote somewhat primative (sic) property,” H. started his letter. “My neighbors were fataly (sic) injured. I have always been concerned about my safety in the area where I lived. When I learned of the incident I became frightened and I understand now that I became obsessed by my fear and made drastic choices to attempt to protect myself from an unknown threat.”

H.said he believed his guns would make him feel “safer and less vulnerable.”

H. was released from prison on parole in May, but he went missing in June after cutting off his ankle monitor. He had been sought since, becoming a “parolee at large,” Ramsey said at a news conference Thursday.

He surfaced Thursday morning, when a sheriff’s deputy on patrol was contacted by a citizen who pointed the officer to a man in a car in the parking lot of the Pines Yankee Hill Hardware Store, which was in the Camp Fire evacuation zone, Ramsey said.

The citizen said the man had been staying in the parking lot for about three days and was “suspicious,” Ramsey said.

The deputy went to the car, got its license plate and determined it was associated with a man — H. — who was well known to the Sheriff’s Office and wanted for parole violations.

The deputy requested backup and surrounded the car, making contact with H., who appeared to be sleeping in the driver’s side of his sedan, Ramsey said.

After the officer knocked on the car’s window, H. “immediately jammed his hand into his jacket, as if he was reaching for a weapon.”

The officers then drew their weapons and moved back, Ramsey said. H. then allegedly yelled something to the effect of, “You guys should’ve left me alone,” and, “I’m not going back.”

As officers yelled at H. in an attempt to get him out of his car, the officers also heard a “metallic click consistent with perhaps the racking of a gun.”

H. proceeded to start his car, backing up toward the officers before driving forward and striking at least one civilian vehicle in the parking lot, Ramsey said. H.then led officers on a high-speed chase west on Highway 70 toward the Oroville area.

Spike strips were deployed and H’s tires flattened by spike strips and his car came to a stop on its rims.

Officers subsequently yelled at H. to get out of the car, Ramsey said. After refusing at first, H.got out, with officers telling him to show them his hand, which was still in his right pocket.

At that point Bandit, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office police dog, was released in an attempt to “stop” him, Ramsey said. As Bandit was doing his job, H. “came with a metallic object in his hand and pointed it at the officers.”

Seven officers fired their duty weapons, which included handguns and rifles, Ramsey said. The shots brought H. down, as well as Bandit.

During the confrontation a pit bull emerged from H’s car and attacked Bandit, leading officers to shoot the pit bull.

H., Bandit and the pit bull died on the scene.

Ramsey said the seven shooting officers included three from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, three from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office and a California Department of Fish and Wildlife warden out of Shasta County.

The names of the officers have not been released.

[fapfapfap]

Wonder the video cuts off at such a weird spot. Thanks for the post.

[pokerplay]

Wait. What did the officers have for breakfast? Not enough detail here.

[superhamster]

Less typin' and more movie show next time, pardner. I'm goin' back to whittlin'.

[docfr8]

No fucks given, good riddance of a career criminal

[Morbidmillie]

Poor dogs

[NUUDLZ]

Wish it didn't cut off at that spot. Hey cops nice shot!!:2gunsfiring _v1:

[Chimpanzy]

Originally Posted by Morbidmillie ↗

Poor dogs

It was a pit bull. No loss there.

[icehole]

at least he died with style
the matrix style

[LedZep]

I'd fire their asses. WTF is wrong with American cops?? Are they really that stupid....100%
Are American cops even trained?
USELESS PRICKS!!