Video released by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department shows the moments leading up to a deputy responding to a call last Sunday in the southern area of the county and fatally shooting a man.
The video shows the deputy approach the man, who has been identified as Maurice Holley, lying in a gully on the side of Bennett Road in Herald at around 2:30 p.m.
"What are you doing passed out here?" the deputy asks, with his hand resting on his sidearm.
"I had my rabbit," says Holley, who then mumbles something unintelligible.
He acts as if he’s going to stand up, but the deputy warns against it and Holley stays on the ground seated, instead. He can be seen leaning against the side of the ditch closest to a fence.
As the deputy takes notes, he sees a pistol in Holley's waistband and begins yelling, "Get on the [expletive] ground!"
With his gun held out in front of him with his right hand, the deputy then tells dispatch that Holley is armed.
Holley responds that he "didn't do nothing" He then moves what appears to be a piece of paper from his left to his right and then brings his left hand down to his shirt.
The officer then fires nine shots. With the first shot, Holley’s hand can be seen releasing the grip he had on the shirt. After the shooting stops, he then rolls across the ditch where he is later handcuffed.
The 55-year-old Holley was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department released pictures of two Glock-style airsoft guns they say he had in his waistband at the time of the shooting.
The deputy had been dispatched to the area after callers reported a man's body on the side of Bennett Road.
Holley was a man of color.
Sonia Lewis with the group Sacramento For Black Lives questioned why the deputy didn’t move “a safe distance away” from Holley, who had moved his arm so only his shirt was between his hand and his weapon.
“Tactics to de-escalate and training in CIT [crisis intervention training] response were not used in this incident," Lewis said. "If they don't ever try to preserve life, they will never know if it works.”
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