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On 08/25/2025, 37-year-old Cale Tyler Gilbert was shot and killed by nine Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officers following an approximately 90-minute barricade inside his crashed vehicle on Mayport Road near Dutton Island Road. The incident began at approximately 6 p.m. at the Dutton Island Preserve boat ramp, where a visiting couple reported hearing gunfire and seeing Gilbert firing a rifle into the water.
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According to the couple’s account to police, the husband approached Gilbert and asked whether he was OK. Police alleged that Gilbert pointed the rifle toward the man and fired near his feet. The couple attempted to leave, but the encounter continued. Police said Gilbert subsequently pointed the rifle toward the man’s head while the man was giving Gilbert a drink.
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The two men then struggled over the rifle. The man gained control of it, removed or emptied its ammunition and threw the rifle into the water. Investigators later reported finding 47 spent cartridge casings at Dutton Island Preserve.
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The couple got into their vehicle and attempted to leave. Police alleged that Gilbert followed in his vehicle and drove toward them, sideswiping their truck. Gilbert then collided with another vehicle on Mayport Road before his vehicle crashed near bushes by the Mayport Road and Dutton Island Road area.
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Jacksonville sheriff’s officers arrived shortly after 6 p.m. Gilbert remained inside the damaged vehicle. Officers surrounded him and spent approximately 90 minutes attempting to persuade him to come out. Body-camera footage and 911 recordings released in September 2025 documented the lengthy police response and negotiations.
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Police repeatedly ordered Gilbert to leave the vehicle with his hands visible. Officers also addressed him by name and told him they were trying to help him. Gilbert remained inside the vehicle.
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At approximately 7:33 p.m., officers saw Gilbert handling a rifle case inside the vehicle. Police said Gilbert picked up the case, opened it and reached inside. Nine Jacksonville sheriff’s officers then opened fire into the vehicle: A. Yanuzzi, Ashton Boyster, D. Sapp, T. Robinson, A. Henning, Z. Slatowski, M. Ross, Paris Rickertsen and C. Soucek.
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Gilbert was struck by police gunfire and died at the scene. The rifle that had been taken from him earlier remained in the water at Dutton Island Preserve. Police described the object Gilbert reached into immediately before officers fired as a rifle case.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a critical-incident briefing, 911 recordings and body-camera footage on 09/12/2025. The recordings provided substantially more detail about the encounter, including the events at Dutton Island Preserve, Gilbert’s collisions, the extended negotiations and the moments immediately preceding the nine officers opening fire.
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The State Attorney’s Office conducted the independent criminal review of the shooting. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office procedures also call for an internal investigation and review by the department’s Response to Resistance Board.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
A. Yanuzzi, Ashton Boyster, D. Sapp, T. Robinson, A. Henning, Z. Slatowski, M. Ross, Paris Rickertsen and C. Soucek fired at Cale Gilbert.
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Z. Slatowski had participated in another fatal Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shooting just five weeks earlier. On 07/19/2025, Slatowski and Officer G. Hernandez shot and killed a man following a vehicle crash and confrontation. Police alleged that the man was holding a handgun when officers fired. Thus, the Gilbert shooting was Slatowski’s second fatal police shooting in approximately five weeks.
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Ashton Boyster has served as a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office K-9 officer with police dog Kenzo. Boyster and Kenzo participated in regional police K-9 competitions, including the 2022 K9s United Law Enforcement Competition, where the team won the “Hardest Hitting” category.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2025/08/26/officer-involved-shooting-shuts-down-mayport-road-at-dutton-island-road-in-atlantic-beach-police-say/
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2025/09/12/jso-releases-footage-showing-tense-moments-leading-to-fatal-atlantic-beach-shooting-involving-9-officers/
https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/officer-involved-shooting-shuts-down-mayport-road-atlantic-beach/27NH2BS7BBGGJMMQHWBFWGXSGE/
https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/let-me-see-your-hands-jso-releases-video-august-officer-involved-shooting/TSZSLVBLFZFS5FN4BHCN2RVONU/
https://www.jaxsheriff.org/News/20250825-Officer-Involved-Shooting.aspx
https://www.jaxsheriff.org/News/20250719-Officer-Involved-Shooting.aspx
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/11/13/florida-k-9-officers-compete-for-top-dog-during-sunday-event/

On 08/25/2025, shortly before 1 a.m., Washington County sheriff’s deputies responded to a residential alarm at a home in the Evergreen Hills subdivision in the Bristol area of Washington County. The homeowners were away from the residence when the alarm was activated.
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Deputies encountered Alney Keith Joseph Jr. inside the residence. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Joseph fired a gun at a deputy during the encounter. Deputies returned fire, striking Joseph.
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Joseph died at the scene. Authorities described the circumstances leading to the encounter as an apparent break-in at the residence.
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The Washington County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting with assistance from Virginia State Police and the Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Washington County sheriff’s deputies who fired at Alney Keith Joseph Jr. have not been publicly identified.

https://wset.com/news/local/man-who-fired-at-deputies-shot-to-death-in-washington-county-virginia-authorities-say-evergreen-hills
https://www.wdbj7.com/2025/08/25/1-man-dead-officer-involved-shooting-in-washington-county/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/man-killed-during-encounter-washington-143117319.html
https://www.supertalk929.com/2025/08/25/one-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-in-bristol-virginia/

On 08/24/2025, at approximately 3:29 p.m., the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office received reports of a vehicle being driven recklessly northbound on Interstate 49. Deputies located the vehicle within minutes and determined that it had been reported stolen earlier that day from Vernon Parish. Deputies attempted to stop the driver, who continued north on I-49 while police pursued.
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Police also determined that the driver was wanted in Beauregard Parish in connection with the alleged theft of a different vehicle earlier that day. The immediate reason deputies attempted to stop him in DeSoto Parish, however, was the reported reckless driving followed by confirmation that the vehicle he was driving had been reported stolen.
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As the pursuit approached Louisiana Highway 509, the vehicle crossed the Interstate 49 median into the southbound lanes and stopped on an embankment. According to the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office account subsequently reported by multiple outlets, the driver got out holding a handgun.
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Police alleged that the man fired multiple rounds toward deputies. Deputies fired back. The man then ran a short distance from the interstate while still armed.
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Investigators subsequently determined that the deputies’ gunfire did not cause the man’s death. Police said the man sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound after running from the deputies and died at the scene. The case therefore belongs in the database as a suicide under police duress rather than a fatal police shooting.
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At approximately 3:30 p.m., the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office requested that the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations take responsibility for investigating the shooting. State Police investigators processed the scene, collected evidence and sought photographs and video from motorists who had been traveling on I-49.
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The initial Louisiana State Police release described the death only as occurring during a deputy shooting and did not disclose the circumstances. The more detailed account released through the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office established the preceding reckless-driving report, stolen vehicle, pursuit, crossing of the interstate median, exchange of gunfire and self-inflicted fatal wound.
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Despite an expanded search through later Louisiana reporting, DeSoto Parish sources, Louisiana State Police material and coverage of the related vehicle thefts, the man’s identity has not been publicly released. His age and race likewise have not been publicly established.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The DeSoto Parish sheriff’s deputies who fired during the encounter have not been publicly identified.

https://www.ksla.com/2025/08/25/lsp-investigating-desoto-parish-deputy-involved-shooting-1-dead/
https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/the-nation/louisiana-state-police-looking-into-shooting-on-highway-49
https://lsp.org/community-outreach/news/louisiana-state-police-detectives-investigating-desoto-parish-sheriff-s-office-deputy-involved-shooting/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/suspect-dead-leading-deputies-chase-130000743.html
https://lincolnparishjournal.com/2025/08/26/lsp-nvestigating-desoto-parish-sheriffs-office-deputy-involved-shooting/

On 08/24/2025, shortly before midnight, San Antonio police responded to the Knights Inn at 4039 East Houston Street after receiving a call for help involving 34-year-old Justin Andrew Hernandez, who was harming himself inside a hotel room. The initial police account said another person inside the room called for assistance, although subsequent San Antonio Police Department reports did not describe that person’s involvement.
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Officers Kevin Nguyen, William O’Brien and Samuel Whiteside responded to the hotel. Police said Hernandez was cutting himself with what officers initially described as a cutting instrument. Later police information identified the object as a broken glass bottle.
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The officers initially spoke with Hernandez from outside the hotel room. According to the later account of the encounter, Hernandez told the officers to shoot him. Officers told Hernandez to put down the broken bottle and attempted to persuade him to come outside for medical treatment, telling him that EMS personnel were nearby to help him.
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Police alleged that Hernandez then came out of the room holding the broken bottle and moved rapidly toward the officers. Nguyen, O’Brien and Whiteside opened fire, striking Hernandez multiple times.
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Officers provided medical treatment after the shooting, but Hernandez died at the scene. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that he died from multiple gunshot wounds and classified the manner of death as homicide.
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Hernandez’s full name was Justin Andrew Hernandez. He was born February 10, 1991, and was 34 when police killed him. His obituary identifies him as a San Antonio native, husband and father of three children.
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The San Antonio Police Department Shooting Team opened a criminal investigation, while the department’s Internal Affairs Unit conducted a separate administrative investigation. The findings were to be forwarded to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for independent review.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
San Antonio Police officers Kevin Nguyen, William O’Brien and Samuel Whiteside fired at Justin Hernandez. The department publicly identified all three officers on 08/26/2025.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-police-fatal-shooting-man-dead-20990855.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/sapd-identify-officers-suspect-self-harm-call-21015980.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-police-shooting-charge-bottle-21032771.php
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/08/26/authorities-id-man-killed-by-3-sapd-officers-while-responding-to-apparent-mental-health-call/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/08/26/sapd-identifies-3-officers-who-shot-killed-man-during-apparent-mental-health-call/
https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/SAPD/Transparency-Open-Data/Open-Data-Library/Officer-Involved-Shootings
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-antonio-tx/justin-hernandez-12500280

On 08/24/2025, at approximately 1:16 a.m., Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies Kasey Loudermilk and Christopher Monda were patrolling downtown Cleveland when they encountered a vehicle near East 13th Street and St. Clair Avenue. Loudermilk was driving the sheriff’s cruiser and Monda was riding in the passenger seat. Deputies reported that the vehicle was traveling recklessly without headlights and that they suspected its driver was impaired.
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Loudermilk attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver continued east on St. Clair Avenue while Loudermilk pursued. The pursuit was authorized by a sheriff’s supervisor and continued despite rapidly increasing speeds.
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During the pursuit, Loudermilk requested and received permission from Sgt. Schlegel to use a PIT maneuver. Loudermilk later wrote that speeds exceeding 80 mph made an immediate PIT unsafe. He accelerated in an effort to catch the vehicle and considered either a PIT maneuver, channeling the vehicle or using a rolling roadblock.
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At one point, Loudermilk pulled alongside or attempted to pull alongside the vehicle. The driver abruptly stopped and turned off St. Clair Avenue. Loudermilk lost sight of the vehicle, made a U-turn and resumed the pursuit after seeing it emerge from a dark lot near Addison Road and St. Clair Avenue.
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Loudermilk again accelerated to catch the vehicle in preparation for another attempt to stop it. Another deputy involved in the pursuit reported that the vehicle reached speeds exceeding 100 mph on St. Clair Avenue.
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At approximately 1:18 a.m., less than three minutes after the pursuit began, 37-year-old Sharday Denise Elder was driving through the intersection near St. Clair Avenue and Addison Road when the pursued vehicle crashed into the driver’s side of her car at high speed. Cleveland surveillance video shows Elder arriving at the intersection moments before the collision.
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The impact severely damaged Elder’s vehicle and trapped her inside. Her passenger, Joshua Earnhert, suffered serious injuries, including a double pelvic fracture. The pursued vehicle contained the driver, an adult woman and a 16-year-old girl; all three were injured, with the teenager suffering a spinal injury.
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The sheriff’s cruiser driven by Loudermilk then sideswiped the wreckage. Monda was injured in the collision. His body-camera recording shows him getting out of the cruiser, initially approaching the pursued vehicle and then returning to Elder’s vehicle. Monda remained with Elder as firefighters worked to free her.
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Elder was transported to University Hospitals, where she died from her injuries. She was a mother of two children, ages 16 and 11.
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The pursued driver was identified as 24-year-old Jaymone Whitaker II. He was indicted on charges including involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to comply, child endangering and impaired driving. On 06/01/2026, Whitaker pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, vehicular assault, failure to comply and impaired driving.
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Cuyahoga County placed Loudermilk and Monda on paid administrative leave following the fatal pursuit. A special prosecutor reviewed the pursuit and declined to pursue criminal charges against the deputies.
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The fatal crash intensified scrutiny of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department’s pursuit practices. In October 2025, Sheriff Harold Pretel substantially restricted the department’s vehicle-pursuit policy. The revised policy generally limits pursuits to circumstances involving specified violent felony offenses, with additional provisions governing impaired drivers and other serious circumstances.
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In March 2026, Elder’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel and deputies involved in the pursuit. The lawsuit alleges that deputies conducted a reckless high-speed pursuit and violated applicable pursuit standards, creating an unreasonable danger to motorists including Elder.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Deputy Kasey Loudermilk drove the lead sheriff’s cruiser during the pursuit that ended in Sharday Elder’s death. Deputy Christopher Monda was riding in Loudermilk’s passenger seat. Sgt. Schlegel provided supervisory authorization for Loudermilk to use a PIT maneuver during the pursuit.
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This was Loudermilk’s second police pursuit in approximately five months that resulted in the death of an uninvolved woman. On 03/28/2025, Loudermilk led a high-speed pursuit that ended when the pursued driver crashed into a Range Rover driven by 48-year-old Tamya Westmoreland near Interstate 90 and Eddy Road. The impact sent Westmoreland’s vehicle approximately 40 feet from the bridge, where it caught fire. Westmoreland was ejected and died from her injuries on 04/13/2025. The pursued driver also died.
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A special prosecutor subsequently reviewed the Westmoreland pursuit and declined to bring criminal charges against Loudermilk. Five months later, Loudermilk initiated the pursuit that killed Elder.
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Loudermilk’s personnel file revealed significant problems during his hiring process. During the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department background investigation, Loudermilk denied having accepted a police job with Cleveland Clinic despite having done so. After investigators contacted his previous supervisor and questioned him again, Loudermilk admitted that he had lied about accepting the position.
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Loudermilk also omitted from his employment application that the Ohio State Highway Patrol had rejected him after he failed a polygraph examination and that the Highland Heights Police Department had disqualified him after he failed a physical-agility test. The sheriff’s polygraph examiner documented these issues and advised that the information should be considered when deciding whether Loudermilk was an acceptable candidate. The Sheriff’s Department hired him anyway.
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Loudermilk was also involved in an October 2024 police shooting following a vehicle pursuit in downtown Cleveland. Loudermilk and Deputy Isen Vajusi pursued a stolen Nissan carrying three teenagers. After the vehicle crashed and the teenagers ran, deputies fired their weapons and a 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg.
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After reporting revealed the discrepancies in Loudermilk’s hiring background, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office began reviewing whether his admitted dishonesty created credibility issues when he was used as a prosecution witness.
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In March 2026, a public defender sought to overturn a conviction in a case involving Loudermilk, arguing that information concerning his admitted dishonesty during the hiring process was relevant to his credibility as a police witness.
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https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/one-dead-several-injured-after-overnight-pursuit-ends-in-crash-on-st-clair-avenue/95-c8713ff6-5a83-4d4e-8ea3-434d37e31baf
https://www.wkyc.com/video/news/local/cleveland/one-dead-several-injured-after-overnight-pursuit-ends-in-crash-on-st-clair-avenue/95-e13a2fbc-ce68-4537-b099-e8b9db3d4292
https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/08/24/woman-an-apparent-innocent-victim-killed-cuyahoga-county-sheriffs-chase/
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/we-follow-through/body-cam-video-released-in-deputy-chase-and-deadly-crash-that-killed-innocent-mother-of-2
https://www.ideastream.org/law-justice/2025-08-28/cuyahoga-county-sheriff-lifted-restrictions-on-vehicle-pursuit-tactic-after-taking-office
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/28/cuyahoga-deputies-hired-downtown
https://www.ideastream.org/law-justice/2025-02-06/under-pressure-cuyahoga-county-releases-video-of-teens-shooting-by-deputy
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/special-prosecutor-determines-cuyahoga-county-deputies-did-not-cause-crash-that-killed-innocent-driver
https://www.ideastream.org/law-justice/2026-03-30/families-of-women-killed-in-cuyahoga-sheriffs-deputy-pursuits-sue-those-involved
https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/06/01/driver-pleads-guilty-death-innocent-woman-killed-during-cuyahoga-county-sheriffs-chase/
GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-give-sharday-elder-a-proper-burial

On August 24, 2025, police attempted a traffic stop for a missing license plate. Police escalated a high-speed chase after Justin Eckhart reached speeds up to 150 mph. Police claim they called off the chase after briefly losing visual contact. Shortly thereafter, Eckhart crashed into the driver’s side of a minivan turning at the intersection of U.S. 224 and Township Road 259. He was ejected from the motorcycle and died at the scene. The minivan’s occupants, a 77-year-old driver and a 79-year-old passenger, sustained minor injuries.

https://www.hometownstations.com/news/hancock_county/motorcyclist-killed-in-crash-after-high-speed-chase-in-findlay/article_0c8e7944-2a11-4bb4-908d-eeefb6972682.html
https://wfin.com/local-news/sheriffs-office-involving-fatal-crash-involving-motorcyclist/

Around 11:45 a.m., John Gregory Conner attempted to force his way into the home of an off-duty Virginia State Police special agent in the Bay Colony neighborhood. A struggle ensued, during which the trooper fired his service weapon, killing Conner. Despite aid being rendered, Conner was pronounced dead at the scene. The trooper sustained injuries in the struggle and was treated at a hospital. The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is reviewing the incident, and the trooper has been placed on administrative leave.

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/man-killed-alleged-break-in-virginia-state-police-special-agents-home-lee-road-bay-colony-aug-24-2025
https://www.wtkr.com/news/in-the-community/virginia-beach/man-fatally-shot-after-attempted-break-in-at-troopers-virginia-beach-home-vsp
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/virginia-beach/police-identify-man-shot-killed-by-off-duty-trooper-in-virginia-beach-break-in-attempt/291-7d054752-51b7-4eee-b985-f974cc503d77

On August 23, 2025, an unidentified man was shot and killed in the front yard of a residence on the 2300 block of West 23rd Street in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles. LAPD officers responding to gunfire found the victim dead outside. The armed man fired at officers and barricaded himself inside the home, triggering an eight-hour SWAT standoff. LAPD SWAT deployed BearCat armored vehicles to surround the residence, K9 units for containment, and a remote-controlled robot to record through windows and monitor the interior. Officers returned fire during the exchange, but no officers or bystanders were injured. The man was eventually taken into custody with injuries of unclear origin and transported to a hospital.

https://abc7.com/post/barricaded-suspect-fired-police-person-found-dead-front-yard-jefferson-park-los-angeles-say/17629398
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/jefferson-park-shooting-swat-standoff
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/swat-operation-west-adams-lapd/3768926
https://mynewsla.com/crime/2025/08/23/man-killed-swat-team-arrests-suspect-after-8-hour-standoff

On August 23, 2025, around 2:30 a.m., Everett Police attempted to conduct an alleged DUI stop but the driver refused to yield and fled, prompting a pursuit by Washington State Patrol troopers, which was later taken over by Everett Police Department. The chase continued until the pursued vehicle crashed into a commercial building, resulting in the driver’s death and a passenger sustaining injuries. Under Washington law (RCW 10.116.060), police may engage in a vehicular pursuit only when there is reasonable suspicion the driver violated the law, the pursuit is necessary, and the driver poses a greater safety risk if not apprehended, all requiring supervisory notification and oversight. It remains unclear whether these conditions were met or adhered to in this case.

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/car-crashes-everett-wa-building-killing-1-hospitalizing-another
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/everett/one-dead-vehicle-fleeing-dui-stop-crashes-everett/281-a2878831-e052-478b-8c4a-8b6bdc4534ba

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 4:37 p.m., 38-year-old Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez was lying on United Nations Avenue South inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park when NYPD Officer Levonje Devone drove a marked police cruiser over him. United Nations Avenue South is an interior park roadway normally closed to civilian traffic. During the U.S. Open, it was being used by NYPD, Parks Department and authorized employee vehicles.
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Gonzalez, a Queens resident originally from Mexico, had moved to the United States in 2012. He was the father of a 16-year-old son who lived in Mexico and the youngest of six siblings. His family said he loved soccer and described him as an upbeat person.
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Approximately one minute before Devone struck Gonzalez, two New York Mets employees called 911 to report a man lying in the roadway. At least one person attempted to warn the approaching police vehicle. NYPD Lt. Maritza Meade was also nearby and saw Devone’s cruiser moving toward Gonzalez. Meade ran toward the driver’s side and attempted to get the officers’ attention.
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Devone was driving with Officer Keisha Compere in the passenger seat. Witnesses initially told Streetsblog that Devone and Compere appeared to be talking and looking toward each other rather than at the roadway immediately before the collision.
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The subsequent New York Attorney General investigation identified Devone as the driver and produced considerably more detailed evidence about the moments before impact. Investigators found that Devone had an open tube of lip gloss between the thumb and index finger of her right hand while that hand held the steering wheel. She had the applicator in her left hand.
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Devone was traveling approximately 7 mph. Despite the low speed, the cruiser drove over Gonzalez and dragged him approximately ten feet before stopping. Compere told investigators that she heard what sounded like low screams or moaning beneath her side of the patrol car. Officers subsequently used a jack to raise the vehicle and free Gonzalez.
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Emergency personnel transported Gonzalez to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. He was pronounced dead at approximately 5:14 p.m. The medical examiner determined that he died from blunt-force injuries to his torso caused by being struck and run over by the police vehicle.
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Gonzalez’s family said police did not notify them of his death. His relatives learned what had happened four days later after one of Gonzalez’s friends contacted a family member. Two of his brothers then went to a police precinct and identified him from photographs. His family publicly criticized the NYPD for providing virtually no information about his death.
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The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation opened an independent investigation on 08/26/2025 because state law requires the office to investigate deaths potentially caused by police action or omission. Investigators reviewed body-camera recordings, cell-phone information, collision evidence and witness accounts.
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The investigation determined that Gonzalez was wearing dark clothing while lying on dark asphalt in a shadowed portion of the roadway and that Devone had been driving into sunlight immediately before reaching him. The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad calculated her speed at approximately 7 mph.
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On 04/14/2026, the Attorney General’s Office closed its criminal investigation without filing charges against Devone. The Office of Special Investigation concluded that prosecutors could not prove criminally negligent homicide beyond a reasonable doubt.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
NYPD Officer Levonje Devone was driving the marked police cruiser that ran over and killed Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez. Devone was assigned to Queens’ 109th Precinct and had joined the NYPD in 2021.
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The Attorney General’s investigation established that Devone was holding an open tube of lip gloss against the steering wheel with her right hand and an applicator in her left hand immediately before the collision. A nearby NYPD lieutenant and at least one civilian attempted to alert the officers as the cruiser approached Gonzalez.
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Devone declined through her attorney to be interviewed by the Attorney General’s investigators. The Office of Special Investigation ultimately declined criminal charges on 04/14/2026. Devone remained employed by the NYPD following the investigation.
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https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/09/03/cop-who-fatally-struck-a-man-in-flushing-meadows-park-wasnt-even-looking-witnesses
https://gothamist.com/news/man-dies-after-police-run-over-him-lying-on-flushing-meadows-corona-park-road-nypd
https://nypost.com/2025/09/03/us-news/cop-fatally-runs-over-man-in-flushing-meadows-park/
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/queens-nypd-officer-fatally-hits-man-in-flushing-meadows-corona-park/6383032/
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-office-special-investigation-opens-investigation-24
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-office-special-investigation-releases-report-death-erasmo
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/reports/osi-erasmo-huerta-gonzalez-report.pdf
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/04/20/ag-james-wont-charge-cop-who-ran-over-and-dragged-sleeping-man-in-park-while-applying-makeup
https://queenseagle.com/all/2026/4/16/officer-who-ran-over-man-in-queens-park-wont-be-charged-in-his-death
GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-erasmos-final-journey-home

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 1:45 p.m., Fresno police responded to the West Pointe Apartments near North Blythe Avenue and Austin Way after Joseph Donald Merical’s wife called 911 and reported a domestic assault. She told dispatchers that Merical had strangled her until she lost consciousness and that she had escaped the apartment with their baby. She also told police that Merical might harm himself and could be armed with a knife.
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Police attempted to arrest 35-year-old Merical inside the apartment. Police said he blocked the door with furniture and armed himself with two large kitchen knives. Officers partially forced the door open, and police alleged that Merical swung or thrust a knife toward an officer. Officers backed away from the apartment and called the department’s Crisis Negotiation Team and SWAT unit.
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Police spent several hours attempting to persuade Merical to leave the apartment. Body-camera footage released in October 2025 shows officers breaking a kitchen window and using equipment to force the front door while Merical remained inside. At one point he stood on furniture near the doorway holding a knife.
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Shortly after 8 p.m., Merical came out of the second-floor apartment holding a knife in each hand and moved quickly down the stairs toward officers positioned near the apartment-complex parking area. Police first fired less-lethal projectiles at him. Those rounds did not stop him.
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Two Fresno SWAT officers then fired rifles at Merical, striking him. Police recovered two knives beside him. Officers provided medical aid before Merical was transported to a hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds.
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Fresno police released the critical-incident video on 10/17/2025. The video included 911 audio, body-camera recordings and footage showing the prolonged police response and the final encounter outside the apartment. The department said its investigation would be reviewed by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Internal Affairs and Fresno’s Office of Independent Review.
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Merical’s full name was Joseph Donald Merical. Funeral records list his birth date as 04/30/1990. His family said he had struggled with severe depression and other mental-health difficulties before his death. He was married and had two daughters.
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Although Merical died at the hospital on 08/24/2025 according to funeral and family records, the fatal police encounter occurred on 08/23/2025, which is the incident date used for this database entry.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND
Two Fresno Police Department SWAT officers fired the rifle rounds that killed Joseph Merical. Fresno police have not publicly identified the shooting officers.

https://kmph.com/news/local/man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-after-charging-police-with-knives
https://kmph.com/news/local/police-release-critical-incident-video-of-deadly-swat-shooting-in-august-in-fresno-body-worn-camera-footage-35-year-old-joseph-merical-blythe-avenue-austin-ave-apartment-knives
https://abc30.com/post/35-year-old-domestic-violence-suspect-shot-killed-fresno-police-identified/17642222/
https://abc30.com/post/bodycam-video-shows-moment-fresno-pd-shoot-kill-domestic-violence-suspect/18028429/
https://gvwire.com/2025/08/24/fresno-police-fatally-shoot-man-armed-with-knives-after-standoff/
https://gvwire.com/2025/10/17/fresno-police-release-video-of-fatal-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.chapelofthelight.com/m/obituaries/joseph-merical/
GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-joey-mericals-memorial-fund

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 7:40 p.m., Milwaukee police officers spotted a vehicle in the 6000 block of West Meinecke Avenue that was wanted in connection with a recent nonfatal shooting. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle specifically because of its connection to that shooting. The driver continued away while police pursued.
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The subsequent Milwaukee Police Department review documented that the pursuit lasted approximately five minutes and covered 3.45 miles. Police reported that speeds reached two to three times the posted residential speed limits. During the pursuit, the driver traveled into oncoming traffic, disregarded multiple stop signs and nearly struck other motorists.
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At North 51st Street and West Center Street, the pursued driver entered the intersection against a red light and crashed into a vehicle driven by 30-year-old Hasan Harris, who was traveling west on Center Street. Harris had no involvement in the police investigation or the vehicle being pursued.
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The collision killed Harris at the scene. His 31-year-old passenger, identified by Harris's family as his brother, suffered serious injuries. Relatives described Harris as the father of a two-year-old son and an aspiring musician.
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Three people were in the pursued vehicle. Two ran from the crash scene while a 17-year-old passenger was transported to Froedtert Hospital with serious injuries. Police subsequently arrested one 17-year-old and continued searching for another person who had fled.
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Harris's family publicly criticized Milwaukee police for continuing the high-speed pursuit through residential streets. Family members and friends returned to the crash site the following day and called on the department to change its pursuit practices. In September, Harris's family and other community members took those concerns to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission as the city faced mounting deaths from police pursuits.
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Milwaukee Police Department records subsequently provided substantially more detail about the pursuit than the initial news reports, including its five-minute duration, 3.45-mile distance, extreme speeds, travel into oncoming traffic, ignored stop signs and the final red-light collision that killed Harris.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Milwaukee police officers who initiated and participated in the pursuit that killed Hasan Harris have not been publicly identified.

https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/pursuit-ending-in-fatal-crash-leaves-one-dead-milwaukee-police-say
https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/stop-chasing-these-cars-friends-and-family-mourn-father-milwaukee-police-chase-ends-in-crash
https://www.cbs58.com/news/one-person-dead-after-milwaukee-police-chase-and-crash-ends-near-51st-and-w-center-st
https://www.fox6now.com/news/milwaukee-police-chase-ends-fatal-crash-driver-wanted
https://www.fox6now.com/news/mpd-chase-ends-fatal-crash-questions-current-chase-policy
https://www.cbs58.com/news/people-call-for-change-in-mpd-pursuits-at-milwaukee-fire-and-police-commission-meeting
https://milwaukee.legistar.com/View.ashx?GUID=C48F1A9A-B2DC-4135-ABCB-0FC27068BE14&ID=14870899&M=F

On 08/23/2025, shortly after 10 p.m., Moncks Corner police responded to a reported physical assault involving a firearm at the Walmart in Moncks Corner. Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies were called to assist Moncks Corner police. Deputies saw a silver Mercedes SUV leaving the scene as they arrived and attempted to stop it. The reported assault involving a firearm was therefore the specific incident that brought police to the scene and led deputies to attempt the traffic stop.
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The Mercedes continued away while Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies pursued it. The pursuit traveled along North Highway 52 and then North Live Oak Drive toward the intersection with South Carolina Highway 6.
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At approximately 10:08 p.m., the Mercedes reached the intersection of North Live Oak Drive/U.S. 17A and Highway 6, where a 2003 Infiniti SUV was stopped at the traffic light. The Mercedes crashed into the rear passenger side of the Infiniti.
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Robert Anderson, 45, of Summerville, was riding as a passenger in the Infiniti. Anderson and the Infiniti's driver were transported to Trident Medical Center. Anderson died from his injuries. The driver suffered serious injuries. Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell subsequently identified Anderson as the person killed in the crash.
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After the collision, police arrested the Mercedes driver following a brief foot chase. The South Carolina Highway Patrol investigated the fatal collision, while the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office investigated evidence recovered from the Mercedes and Moncks Corner police handled the original assault investigation.
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The South Carolina Highway Patrol filed charges of failure to stop for police resulting in death, failure to stop for police resulting in great bodily injury, felony DUI resulting in death and felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury. The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office filed additional firearm, marijuana and resisting-arrest charges, while Moncks Corner police filed a third-degree assault and battery charge arising from the incident that preceded the pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies who attempted the traffic stop and participated in the pursuit that ended in Robert Anderson’s death have not been publicly identified.

https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/berkeley-county-news/1-dead-1-injured-in-moncks-corner-after-driver-slams-into-vehicle-during-pursuit/
https://www.live5news.com/2025/08/24/coroner-identifies-victim-moncks-corner-rear-end-collision/
https://www.live5news.com/2025/08/25/man-facing-11-charges-after-fight-deadly-chase-berkeley-county-deputies-say/

On 08/23/2025, shortly before noon, Glastonbury police responded to the intersection of Main Street/Route 17 and Great Pond Road after a caller reported a woman slumped over the steering wheel of a Toyota Camry. The driver was subsequently identified as 29-year-old Abigail Rose Mann of Meriden.
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Dash-camera footage later released by Glastonbury police shows an officer arriving with emergency lights and siren activated, getting out of the cruiser and approaching Mann's 2003 Toyota Camry. The officer found Mann unresponsive or apparently asleep behind the wheel while the vehicle was stopped at the intersection.
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The officer approached the passenger side of the Camry and attempted to open the door. After Mann became alert, the officer ordered her to put the vehicle in park, turn off the engine and open the door. Mann instead drove away while the officer was beside the vehicle. The officer returned to the patrol car and began pursuing her south on Route 17.
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The pursuit continued toward the Glastonbury-Portland town line. Police video and later reporting established that the Glastonbury officer was ordered to terminate the pursuit near Rockwood Drive. The officer disengaged before Mann crossed farther into Portland.
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A short time later, at approximately 11:45 a.m., Mann was driving south on Route 17 in Portland near Overlook Court when she lost control of the Camry. The car rotated sideways and crossed into the northbound lane.
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A northbound 2016 Honda Pilot carrying an adult woman and a teenage passenger struck Mann's Camry. Mann was the only person in the Camry and was pronounced dead at the scene. The two people in the Honda were treated at the scene and transported to a hospital with injuries later described as non-life-threatening.
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Portland police investigated the fatal collision and asked witnesses to contact Officer Joshua Bailey. The department subsequently identified Mann on 08/27/2025 after notification of her family.
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Later-released police video provided important additional evidence about the encounter preceding the crash, establishing that the Glastonbury officer briefly pursued Mann after she drove away and that police terminated the pursuit before the fatal collision.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Glastonbury police officer who approached Abigail Mann and subsequently pursued her has not been publicly identified.
.

https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/portland-route-17-crash-20943709.php
https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/portland-route-17-fatal-crash-id-abigail-mann-21017938.php
https://www.ctinsider.com/journalinquirer/article/glastonbury-police-chase-video-portland-fatal-mann-21020002.php
https://www.wfsb.com/2025/08/23/police-investigate-serious-crash-portland/
https://www.wfsb.com/2025/09/03/bodycam-video-shows-moments-before-deadly-portland-crash/

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 9:53 p.m., Madison County sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence in the 11000 block of West U.S. Highway 90 in Greenville after a 911 caller reported that 66-year-old Bobby Ray Boothe Jr. was acting irrationally, had a handgun and had fired multiple rounds outside the residence. Contemporary reporting initially identified him simply as Ray Boothe and incorrectly reported his age as 63. His obituary establishes his full name as Bobby Ray Boothe Jr., his date of birth as 06/24/1959, and his age as 66.
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According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Boothe was on the front porch when deputies arrived. Police alleged that he pointed the handgun toward deputies and fired another shot. Deputies took cover.
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Police said Boothe then held the handgun to his own head. Deputies repeatedly attempted to persuade him to put the gun down. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Boothe threatened to harm himself and other people during the confrontation.
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Police alleged that Boothe subsequently pointed the handgun toward deputies again. A Madison County sheriff’s deputy then fired, striking Boothe. Deputies secured the handgun and began emergency medical treatment. Madison County Fire Rescue, which had been staged nearby during the confrontation, transported Boothe to Madison County Memorial Hospital, where he died.
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Boothe’s obituary confirms that he died on 08/23/2025 and provides substantial identifying information absent from the initial police coverage. He was born 06/24/1959, graduated from Aucilla Christian Academy in 1977, operated his father’s service station for many years and later worked as a wildland firefighter with the Florida Forest Service. He was married and had a daughter and granddaughter.
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The Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened an independent investigation into the fatal shooting.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND
A Madison County sheriff’s deputy fired the shot that killed Bobby Ray Boothe Jr. The shooting deputy has not been publicly identified in the news coverage, later local reporting, or other publicly searchable material located during the update.

https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/madison-county-deputies-involved-in-deadly-shooting-after-suspect-opens-fire
https://www.wctv.tv/2025/08/24/mcso-deputy-shoots-kills-man-after-responding-shots-fired-call/
https://www.greenepublishing.com/deputy-involved-shooting-occurred-in-greenville/
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/bobby-boothe-obituary?id=59289215

On 08/23/2025, a Columbia County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop 45-year-old Martel Dante Kyles while Kyles was driving a gold Toyota Camry on Jimmie Dyess Parkway at the entrance ramp to Interstate 20 east. The Sheriff’s Office reported that deputies knew Kyles was wanted by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office for simple assault. That outstanding warrant was the documented reason for the attempted stop.
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Kyles continued east on Interstate 20 while Columbia County deputies pursued. He exited I-20 at Exit 195 onto Wheeler Road, traveled south and turned onto Belair Frontage Road, bringing the pursuit back toward Columbia County.
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According to the sheriff’s incident report, Kyles drove west on Belair Frontage Road at speeds exceeding 100 mph, crossed into oncoming traffic and forced other motorists from the roadway. He continued through the intersection of Jimmie Dyess Parkway and Belair Frontage Road onto Park West Drive, then traveled by Old Wheeler Road to Wrightsboro Road.
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Deputies deployed stop sticks at Wrightsboro Road and Hagin Road. The stop sticks punctured the Camry’s driver-side tires, but Kyles continued west on Wrightsboro Road. Deputies also attempted to use a PIT maneuver but abandoned that attempt because surrounding traffic made it unsafe.
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Despite the damaged tires, police reported that Kyles continued at speeds exceeding 90 mph as he approached John Deere Parkway. While attempting a right turn onto John Deere Parkway at high speed, the Camry skidded across the roadway, crossed the raised center median, struck a large sign and overturned onto its roof.
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The Camry began catching fire after the crash. Deputies found a passenger trapped inside the vehicle. When deputies approached the driver’s side, they discovered that Kyles had been ejected during the rollover and was unresponsive. Emergency medical personnel responded, and the Columbia County Coroner’s Office pronounced Kyles dead at the scene.
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Kyles’ full identity was Martel Dante Kyles. His obituary gives his birth date as 04/09/1980 and his death date as 08/23/2025, establishing that he was 45 when he died. Earlier Georgia records independently identify Martel Dante Kyles as a Black male born in 1980.
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Court records also establish that Kyles had a separate Columbia County criminal case pending when he died. As recently as 08/18/2025—five days before his death—Martel Dante Kyles appeared on the Columbia County Superior Court calendar in case 2025CR0184 on sexual battery and simple battery charges. Those charges were separate from the Richmond County simple-assault warrant that authorities cited in connection with the attempted stop on 08/23/2025.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Columbia County sheriff’s deputies who initiated and participated in the pursuit, deployed stop sticks and attempted the PIT maneuver have not been publicly identified.

https://www.wrdw.com/2025/08/24/man-wanted-assault-dies-after-high-speed-chase-columbia-county-officials-say
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/martel-kyles-obituary?id=59387408
https://www.lenwoodjonesfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Martel-D-Kyles?obId=45200274
https://clerkofcourtcolumbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250818_CALENDAR_GBLANCHARD_CALENDAR-CALL.pdf

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 2:39 p.m., 49-year-old Donald Brandon Franks of Lookout Mountain was killed when a vehicle being pursued by Gordon County sheriff’s deputies crossed into opposing traffic on State Route 53/Rome Road and crashed head-on into the Honda CR-V Franks was driving. Franks’s wife and child were also in the Honda and suffered severe injuries.

The police encounter began on Interstate 75 southbound near Exit 317. A Gordon County sheriff’s deputy was entering the interstate when a black Mercedes passed the patrol vehicle and nearly struck it. The deputy followed the Mercedes after observing erratic driving and rapid lane changes. The near collision with the deputy’s vehicle and the subsequent erratic driving were the specific circumstances that prompted police intervention.

The deputy followed the Mercedes approximately five miles south to Exit 312 at Fairmount Highway before attempting a traffic stop. The driver accelerated away, and the deputy began pursuing. Additional Gordon County sheriff’s deputies joined as the vehicle traveled east on Fairmount Highway toward the State Route 53 Bypass near Blackwood Road.

Police reported that speeds exceeded 100 mph as the pursuit continued back toward Calhoun. As the Mercedes reached the intersection of the State Route 53 Bypass and State Route 53/Rome Road, its driver failed to negotiate a right turn, crossed the grass median and entered the westbound lanes while traveling eastbound. Deputies did not follow the vehicle into the opposing lanes.

Within seconds, the Mercedes crashed head-on into Franks’s Honda CR-V near Reeves Station Road. The vehicles caught fire following the collision. Deputies and other responding personnel worked to remove the injured people from the burning wreckage and provide medical aid.

Franks died from his injuries at the scene. His wife and child were severely injured and transported by medical helicopter. The pursued driver was also seriously injured and hospitalized.

The Georgia State Patrol investigated the fatal collision. The pursued driver survived and was subsequently charged in connection with the pursuit and Franks’s death. A Gordon County grand jury later returned an indictment including felony murder, three counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle, six counts of serious injury by vehicle and other charges. The case remained on the Gordon County Superior Court calendar in 2026.

OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Gordon County sheriff’s deputy who initiated the attempted traffic stop and the additional deputies who participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-75-police-chase-ends-deadly-crash-gordon-county
https://coosavalleynews.com/2025/08/atleast-one-dead-three-others-injured-in-gordon-county-police-chase/
https://www.discoverdade.com/local/dade-county-man-killed-in-gordon-county-in-head-on-collision/
https://www.discoverdade.com/local/lookout-mountain-man-killed-in-gordon-county-collision-services-arranged-at-moore-funeral-home-saturday/
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/driver-deadly-gordon-county-wreck-back-jail
https://coosavalleynews.com/2025/09/calhoun-man-charged-in-fatal-crash-following-high-speed-police-chase-in-gordon-county/
https://www.gordoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2012
https://www.gordoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2127

On 08/22/2025, at approximately 2:20 p.m., 44-year-old Phillip Francis Jr. was shot and killed at the WoodSpring Suites hotel in the 200 block of Hugh Wallis Road in Lafayette. Lafayette police responded to the hotel and found Francis dead from a gunshot wound.
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Investigators identified the shooter as 39-year-old Kyle J. Jagneaux of Lafayette. Jagneaux was a former Lafayette Police Department officer but was no longer employed by the department when he shot Francis. Public payroll records show that Jagneaux had been hired as a Lafayette police officer on 08/21/2017 and remained listed in Lafayette police payroll records through 2022.
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Police said Francis and Jagneaux became involved in an argument at the hotel that escalated into a physical confrontation. Later reporting stated that both men drew firearms during the confrontation. Jagneaux shot Francis, who died at the scene.
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Lafayette police arrested Jagneaux following the shooting. He was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on one count of manslaughter. Police publicly confirmed the following day that the person they had arrested was a former Lafayette police officer.
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The case is unusual for this database because Jagneaux was no longer acting as a police officer when he killed Francis. His former employment with the Lafayette Police Department is nevertheless directly relevant because subsequent reporting specifically identified his police background, and department records document his prior disciplinary history.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Kyle J. Jagneaux joined the Lafayette Police Department on 08/21/2017. Public payroll records document his employment as a Lafayette police officer from 2017 through at least 2022.
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Lafayette Police Department internal-affairs records show that Jagneaux was the focus of an administrative investigation in 2021. Internal-affairs case AD2021-028, received on 07/09/2021, concerned a complaint accusing Jagneaux of being “Rude and Unprofessional.” The investigation was completed on 08/27/2021 and its disposition was recorded as “Expired.”
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Jagneaux was no longer employed as a Lafayette police officer by the time he shot and killed Phillip Francis Jr. in August 2025. Lafayette police specifically confirmed his former-officer status following his arrest.

https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/crime_police/former-lafayette-police-officer-charged-with-manslaughter-after-fatal-shooting-at-hotel/article_1e12e7c9-0085-497a-9f54-28280869056a.html
https://ground.news/article/lafayette-man-arrested-for-manslaughter-in-deadly-afternoon-shooting
https://kpel965.com/lafayette-hotel-shooting-arrest
https://www.facebook.com/KLFYTV10/posts/according-to-police-kyle-jagneaux-the-suspect-arrested-in-connection-to-the-lafa/1099546342287152
https://www.katc.com/lafayette-parish/lafayette-man-arrested-for-manslaughter-in-deadly-afternoon-shooting
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/man-killed-friday-afternoon-lafayette-201954318.html
https://assets.newlouisiana.org/lafayette/police-fire%20civil%20service/IA%20log%202021.pdf

On 08/22/2025, at approximately 5:19 p.m., Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies responded to 14557 Anchorage Circle in Seminole after receiving a report that someone had been shot. Deputies found 58-year-old Kimberly King-Judd at a neighboring residence. She told deputies that her husband, 65-year-old Steven Grossman, had shot her.
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Investigators learned that King-Judd had recently filed for divorce following ongoing domestic problems. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, King-Judd was inside the residence with Grossman when he began making threatening statements. As she attempted to leave, Grossman allegedly began firing a handgun.
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King-Judd escaped from the residence and reached a neighbor’s home. She suffered a gunshot graze wound to the back of her head and was transported to a hospital. Her injury was not considered life-threatening.
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Deputies learned that Grossman remained inside the Anchorage Circle residence and was armed with a firearm. Rather than immediately entering, deputies established a perimeter and attempted numerous times to communicate with him from an armored vehicle and persuade him to come outside. Grossman remained inside.
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After the unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Grossman, deputies entered the residence. They found him in the living room suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Grossman was transported to a hospital, where he died.
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The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Robbery & Homicide Unit investigated the incident as an attempted murder-suicide. Because Grossman fatally shot himself while armed, surrounded by deputies and the subject of an active police response following the shooting of his wife, his death is classified for this database as suicide under police duress.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies who surrounded the residence, attempted to communicate with Grossman and subsequently entered the home have not been publicly identified.

https://www.tampabay28.com/news/region-pinellas/domestic-incident-involving-firearm-in-seminole-1-woman-taken-to-hospital-pcso
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/woman-hospitalized-pinellas-county-domestic-situation-gun/67-36064e4f-28e2-4c84-bff4-9ec9912ca38b
https://www.pinellassheriff.gov/Contents/ContentItems/48xgzt7pyhsah5h7mkn9xnp9mz
https://www.fox13news.com/news/woman-escapes-neighbors-house-after-being-shot-husband-pcso
https://iontb.com/detectives-investigate-attempted-murder-suicide-in-seminole/

On 08/22/2025, Colorado Springs police officers assigned to the Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force and Tactical Enforcement Unit were searching for 42-year-old Cole Daniel Vannucci. Vannucci had an active arrest warrant arising from a domestic-violence case in which he had been charged with first-degree kidnapping.
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Shortly before 3 p.m., police received a FLOCK license-plate-reader alert for a Chevrolet Trailblazer associated with Vannucci. Detectives located the vehicle and positively identified Vannucci as the driver. They followed him to a fast-food restaurant but decided against attempting the arrest there because of the presence of other people. Police continued following him until he parked outside a residence in the 1100 block of Branding Iron Circle.
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Officers Christopher Laabs, Rachel Cruz-Rodgers, Logan Scheppele, Juan Estrada-Barrera and Christopher Major participated in the arrest operation. Police positioned unmarked vehicles in front of and behind Vannucci's Trailblazer to prevent him from driving away. Officers activated emergency lights, identified themselves as police and announced that Vannucci was under arrest.
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Police deployed a flash-bang device as they moved in. Vannucci remained inside the Trailblazer and attempted to drive away, backing into Laabs's police vehicle. Estrada-Barrera moved another police vehicle forward to keep the Trailblazer trapped between police vehicles.
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Officers repeatedly ordered Vannucci to get out. Police then fired a 40mm foam baton through the Trailblazer's rear window to break the glass in preparation for deploying a chemical irritant. Scheppele reported seeing what appeared to be a rifle inside the vehicle and alerted the other officers. Cruz-Rodgers subsequently fired two chemical-irritant rounds into the Trailblazer.
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According to the subsequent investigation, Vannucci opened the driver's door and stepped out holding what appeared to officers to be a compact HK or MP5-style rifle. Police alleged that he began raising the weapon toward Scheppele. Scheppele and Laabs opened fire. Scheppele fired nine rounds from an MP7 and Laabs fired six rounds from a 9mm handgun. Vannucci was struck eight times.
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Officers approached Vannucci, took him into custody and provided emergency medical treatment. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The El Paso County Coroner's Office determined that Vannucci died from multiple gunshot wounds.
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Investigators subsequently established that the weapon Vannucci was carrying was not a firearm. It was an airsoft replica resembling an MP5 rifle and lacked the orange markings commonly used to distinguish replica weapons.
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Initial police statements also said Vannucci had fired at least one shot toward officers. The later investigation and District Attorney's detailed account instead established that the object was an airsoft rifle and described Vannucci raising it toward Scheppele immediately before Scheppele and Laabs fired.
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The El Paso County Sheriff's Office conducted the independent investigation. The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office subsequently reviewed the shooting and on 02/04/2026 determined that Scheppele and Laabs would not face criminal charges.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND
Logan Scheppele and Christopher Laabs were the two Colorado Springs police officers who shot Cole Vannucci. Scheppele fired nine rounds and Laabs fired six; Vannucci was struck eight times. Rachel Cruz-Rodgers, Juan Estrada-Barrera and Christopher Major were also directly involved in the arrest operation but did not fire the fatal gunshots. Christopher Laabs had been involved in at least two previous fatal police shootings before Vannucci's death.
.
On 03/22/2018, Laabs was one of four Colorado Springs officers who shot and killed 31-year-old Corky Lee Oliver during a motel hostage operation at the TravelStar Inn & Suites. Officers Andrew Leeper, Armando Newell, Christopher Laabs and Frederick Sunderlin fired at Oliver after police forced entry into the room where he was holding a woman. The woman was also struck and wounded by police gunfire. The Fourth Judicial District Attorney subsequently declined charges against the officers.
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On 05/18/2019, Laabs shot and killed 29-year-old Sean Michael Collins following a domestic-violence call and prolonged SWAT barricade at an apartment on Forest Hill Road. Police alleged Collins had fired toward officers during the barricade. After police deployed chemical agents, Collins emerged from the apartment and Laabs shot him. The Fourth Judicial District Attorney subsequently declined charges against Laabs.
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Laabs was also named as a defendant in Bark v. Chacon, a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed under 42 U.S.C. §1983. Evan Bark sued Laabs and several other Colorado Springs officers alleging unreasonable detention, false imprisonment, unlawful search and seizure, and arrest without probable cause. The litigation ultimately resulted in summary judgment for the officers, which the Tenth Circuit affirmed in 2012.
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Laabs is also the named defendant in David Meray v. Christopher Laabs, Case No. 2025CV32838. In March 2026, the Colorado Springs City Council considered and acknowledged legal representation for Laabs in that civil action.
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The Vannucci shooting was therefore at least the third fatal police shooting involving Christopher Laabs documented in publicly available records: Corky Lee Oliver in 2018, Sean Michael Collins in 2019, and Cole Daniel Vannucci in 2025.

https://www.fox21news.com/top-stories/officer-involved-shooting-near-cimarron-hills/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/cspd-officer-involved-shooting-near-221018068.html

https://x.com/FOX21News/status/1959045375395758233

https://epcsheriffsoffice.com/suspect-identified-in-branding-iron-circle-cspd-officer-involved-shooting/

https://www.koaa.com/news/crime/cspd-releases-more-information-on-officer-involved-shooting-from-august

https://www.koaa.com/news/crime/das-office-rules-shooting-involving-cspd-last-summer-justified

https://krdo.com/news/2026/02/04/cspd-officer-involved-shooting-ruled-justified-by-da-following-2025-shooting-in-colorado-springs/

https://gazette.com/2026/02/04/das-office-justifies-colorado-springs-police-officers-in-august-shooting/

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/sean-michael-collins-officer-shooting-deadly-colorado-springs/

https://gazette.com/2018/06/29/das-office-colorado-springs-police-officers-justified-in-fatal-shooting-of-suspect-holding-hostage/

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/12-1169/12-1169-2012-12-05.html

https://coloradosprings.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?GUID=4EBAFA89-CE9C-411A-9941-DA381D5C233B&ID=7938801&Options=&Search=

On 08/22/2025, shortly before 11 a.m., Oklahoma City police responded to a reported disturbance described in initial reporting as a possible armed robbery at a fast-food restaurant near West Reno Avenue and North Meridian Avenue. Officers saw a vehicle they believed was connected to the reported incident leaving the area and attempted to stop it. The driver continued away while Oklahoma City police pursued.
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The pursuit traveled south through Oklahoma City, including along Meridian Avenue and through the area of SW 29th Street and Newcastle Road. Police continued pursuing the vehicle toward South Portland Avenue.
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During the pursuit, the vehicle was traveling at high speed as it approached South Portland Avenue near SW 36th Street and Newcastle Road. The roadway in that area contains a pronounced rise. After crossing the rise at speed, the driver lost control.
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The vehicle left the roadway and traveled onto residential property along South Portland Avenue. It struck and destroyed a mailbox and trash containers and also struck another vehicle before coming to rest. Debris from the crash was thrown across neighboring properties.
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Calvin Eubanks was riding as a passenger in the pursued vehicle. He suffered fatal injuries in the crash and died. The driver was critically injured and transported to a hospital.
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The crash also injured a woman who was outside near her home. Debris from a brick mailbox struck her legs, and she was transported to a hospital for treatment.
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Oklahoma City police closed South Portland Avenue while investigators documented the crash scene. News footage showed extensive damage to the pursued vehicle and a long debris field extending through the residential area.
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The Oklahoma City Police Department investigated the pursuit and fatal crash.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Oklahoma City police officers who initiated and participated in the pursuit that ended in Calvin Eubanks's death have not been publicly identified.
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https://www.news9.com/story/68a8d8e44c1bc8b9d5294c54/passenger-killed-driver-critically-injured-in-crash-during-pursuit-with-okc-police
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-chase-injury-crash-sw36th-portland/65873011
https://www.news9.com/story/68a926d74c1bc8b9d52fd0f0/friday-morning-police-chase-turns-deadly-in-southwest-okc-neighbors-react

On 08/22/2025, at approximately 3:40 a.m., Orlando police officers responded to West Amelia Street and Chatham Avenue near Luminary Green Park for a dispute between two roommates. Benjamin Isaac Hale, 46, was not involved in the dispute that brought police to the area. Police later said Hale appeared to have been sleeping in Luminary Green Park before the encounter.
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Hale was born on 10/06/1978 in Xenia, Ohio. He attended Valencia College and earned a bachelor's degree in computing for digital media from the University of Central Florida. His family described him as an artist and musician who loved nature and animals. He had also participated in the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Program.
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Surveillance and police body-camera recordings released approximately one month after the shooting provide considerably more information than the initial police account. The recordings show Hale moving rapidly across the park toward the area where officers were speaking with the two roommates. Hale was carrying a pair of scissors.
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Police initially characterized Hale's actions as an unprovoked attack in which he “charged” at officers and made a slashing motion with the scissors. The subsequently released video produced disagreement over that characterization. Former police officer and use-of-force trainer Roy Bedard reviewed the footage for WESH and said Hale did not rush the officers at the moment police fired; he described Hale as taking approximately two or three steps toward them before the first shot.
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The recordings show officers ordering Hale to drop what they initially called a knife. Hale continued moving while holding the scissors. Both Orlando police officers then opened fire. Hale fell to the ground and died at the scene.
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Gunfire also struck property beyond Hale. Hale's father, Philip Hale, subsequently visited the shooting location and said he counted at least eight bullet holes in the lower portion of a nearby coffee shop. Initial news coverage likewise reported that police bullets struck the business.
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Hale's family publicly challenged the Orlando Police Department's account and the necessity of killing him after viewing the body-camera footage. Philip Hale said his son did not rush toward the officers as police had described and characterized the shooting as excessive force. He questioned why officers fired repeatedly rather than using a less-lethal option.
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Philip Hale also said he had heard accounts that the scissors could be heard hitting the ground before police fired. That assertion comes from Hale's father and has not been established by the official investigation. He nevertheless said the video left the family with substantial unanswered questions about the shooting and rejected the police characterization that the shooting was justified.
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Hale's father discussed his son's struggles with addiction and mental health and said Hale had participated in the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Program. He argued that those struggles made the police response particularly troubling and said his family wanted answers about why deadly force was used.
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The Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened the independent investigation into the shooting. The case was to be forwarded to the State Attorney's Office following FDLE's investigation, while Orlando police also conducted an internal administrative investigation.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Two Orlando Police Department officers fired at Benjamin Hale. Their names have not been publicly disclosed in the initial reporting, the September 2025 body-camera coverage, or the later family coverage located during this update.

https://www.wesh.com/article/active-investigation-downtown-orlando/65869592
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/orlando-downtown-active-investigation-chatham
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/police-respond-active-scene-near-downtown-orlando/D5U5RFLMHZHNBB2AU7YCIIHMHY/
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/08/22/1-dead-in-downtown-orlando-incident/
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orlando-police-body-cam-reveals-deadly-shooting-man-charging-with-scissors/HL2ZWTULBBHVZEHM4PO2ZCBUGI/
https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-police-release-video-fatal-shooting-scissors-wielding-man/68026041
https://www.wesh.com/article/dad-reacts-orlando-police-shooting-killing-son/68083669
https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2025/09/23/opd-releases-body-cam-video-of-armed-man-fatally-shot
https://www.orlando-news.com/2025/09/23/video-orlando-police-release-body-cam-showing-deadly-shooting-of-man-wielding-scissors/
https://www.newcomerorlando.com/obituaries/benjamin-hale

On 08/22/2025, Nevada County sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported disturbance at a residence on Glen Meadow Drive in Grass Valley. Deputies found 58-year-old Sarah Regina Sanders suffering from major injuries. Investigators subsequently alleged that Sanders had been shot by her 18-year-old son, Leo Thomas Sanders. She was transported to a hospital in Placer County, where she died from her injuries later that day.
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Leo Sanders had left the Glen Meadow Drive residence before deputies arrived. Police obtained a description of him and began searching the surrounding area. Deputies subsequently located Sanders riding a motorcycle.
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Nevada County sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop Sanders and began pursuing him on the motorcycle. The Sheriff’s Office described the pursuit as brief. The documented reason for the attempted stop and pursuit was the investigation into the shooting of his mother at the Glen Meadow Drive residence.
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The pursuit ended at Squirrel Creek Road and Adam Avenue. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Sanders then shot himself. Deputies and fire and EMS personnel attempted emergency medical treatment, but Sanders died at the scene from the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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The Sheriff’s Office initially withheld both identities pending notification of relatives. Later reporting identified the mother as Sarah Regina Sanders, 58, and her son as Leo Thomas Sanders, 18.
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The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office continued investigating both Sarah Sanders’s killing and the circumstances surrounding Leo Sanders’s death. The agency said its investigation supported its conclusion that the original shooting was an isolated incident.
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Because Leo Sanders fatally shot himself while Nevada County sheriff’s deputies were actively pursuing him in connection with the fatal shooting investigation, his death is classified for this database as suicide under police duress.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Nevada County sheriff’s deputies who located Leo Sanders and participated in the motorcycle pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.kcra.com/article/mother-killed-by-son-police-chase-nevada-county/65876119
https://www.kcra.com/article/law-enforcement-responding-to-scene-in-nevada-county-avoid-area/65874089
https://nevadacountyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/59200/82225-Subject-Takes-Own-Lift-Following-Incident
https://nevadacountyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/59199/82225-Glen-Meadow-Dr-Victim-Passes-from-Injuries-Sustained
https://yubanet.com/regional/person-takes-own-life-following-incident-in-grass-valley/
https://hoodline.com/2025/08/grass-valley-mourns-mother-s-death-in-son-involved-shooting-suspect-ends-own-life-after-nevada-county-pursuit/

On 08/22/2025, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents with the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit were investigating Norman Burrell and had obtained three arrest warrants accusing him of sexual exploitation of a minor. Authorities contacted Burrell before arriving and told him that investigators would be coming to his residence to interview him.
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When authorities arrived, Burrell did not answer the door. According to the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, Burrell’s wife was at the residence. Authorities asked her to leave the home for her safety, and she gave deputies permission to enter.
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Four Meigs County sheriff’s deputies entered the residence. As the deputies went inside, they heard a gunshot from the basement.
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Deputies went to the basement and found Burrell suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Emergency medical personnel attempted to revive him, but he died at the scene.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into Burrell’s death. Because Burrell fatally shot himself while four sheriff’s deputies were entering his residence in connection with three active arrest warrants, his death is classified for this database as suicide under police duress.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Four Meigs County sheriff’s deputies entered Norman Burrell’s residence immediately before the fatal gunshot. Their identities have not been publicly disclosed.
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The Meigs County Sheriff’s Office itself was already facing substantial litigation and scrutiny unrelated to Burrell’s death. Litigation arising from the February 2024 deaths of Tabatha Marie Smith and rookie Deputy Robert J. Leonard alleged that Leonard drove his patrol vehicle into the Tennessee River while transporting Smith, who was handcuffed in the rear seat. Smith drowned inside the patrol vehicle. Her surviving children filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Meigs County and Leonard’s estate. The federal litigation remained active in 2026, when a judge denied Leonard’s estate’s motion to dismiss portions of the case.
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The agency was also the subject of a separate lawsuit reported in March 2024 concerning alleged conduct by Meigs County sheriff’s personnel.

https://www.wdef.com/tbi-investigating-death-of-meigs-county-man-facing-child-exploitation-charges/
 

On 08/22/2025, shortly after 4 a.m., Denver police officers responded to an apartment complex in the 4900 block of East Donald Avenue after dispatchers received a report of gunshots. While officers were traveling to the location, police received a second 911 call reporting domestic violence at the same complex. The man involved was subsequently identified as 48-year-old Javier Nava-Carbajal.
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Three Denver police officers arrived at approximately 4:05 a.m. An officer saw a young woman running from the apartment complex with Nava-Carbajal following her. When police approached, Nava-Carbajal turned and ran. Officers pursued him on foot.
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Officers caught Nava-Carbajal and attempted to take him into custody. During the struggle, police alleged that Nava-Carbajal resisted the officers and reached toward one officer's holstered handgun. Police also saw what appeared to be a revolver in Nava-Carbajal's possession.
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During the struggle, Nava-Carbajal told police that the weapon he was carrying was not real. Officers nevertheless believed the weapon was a functioning firearm. Police alleged that Nava-Carbajal pointed it toward officers while simultaneously attempting to gain control of an officer's handgun. Officer Whaylen Phares then fired at Nava-Carbajal.
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Phares fired multiple rounds, striking Nava-Carbajal. Officers attempted emergency medical treatment, and Nava-Carbajal was transported to Denver Health Medical Center, where he died.
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Investigators subsequently determined that the object Nava-Carbajal had been holding was not a conventional firearm. It was a CO2-powered pellet-gun replica of a revolver. However, someone had loaded six live 9mm cartridges into the replica. Denver police said the pellet gun was incapable of firing those cartridges.
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Denver police released body-camera footage and additional details in September 2025. The footage documented the officers' arrival, foot pursuit, physical struggle and shooting and established that Nava-Carbajal had said the weapon was not real during the confrontation.
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The Denver District Attorney's Office conducted an independent criminal review. On 11/17/2025, District Attorney John Walsh concluded that Phares's use of deadly force was legally justified and declined to prosecute him.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Denver Police Officer Whaylen Phares fired the shots that killed Javier Nava-Carbajal. Two additional Denver officers were directly involved in the attempted arrest but did not fire.
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The Denver District Attorney's Office specifically examined Phares's actions and concluded in November 2025 that criminal charges were not warranted. The review focused on Phares's perception that Nava-Carbajal had a firearm while simultaneously attempting to obtain another officer's holstered handgun.
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The shooting occurred against a broader background of substantial use-of-force litigation involving the Denver Police Department. In October 2025, a federal jury awarded six bystanders approximately $19.75 million over injuries caused by former Denver officer Brandon Ramos during a separate 2022 police shooting in Lower Downtown. Ramos had previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and left the department. That litigation did not involve Phares or Nava-Carbajal.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-police-bodycam-fatal-shooting-replica-gun/73-0b6f10f0-8613-4c01-8f48-1c16b30739a0
https://denverpost.com/2025/08/23/denver-police-shooting-domestic-violence-east-donald-avenue/
https://kdvr.com/news/local/denver-police-shooting-east-donald-avenue/
https://www.denvergazette.com/2025/08/22/man-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-in-southeast-denver-friday-morning-6725907a-3e4c-4cc1-8795-20f77376ac60/
https://www.denvergazette.com/2025/09/04/denver-police-shot-two-men-holding-non-lethal-guns-in-span-of-days-bfa06ae7-ebc9-42c6-838c-4556615dc4b7/
https://denverite.com/2025/09/04/denver-officers-off-line-of-duty-after-police-shootings/
https://www.denvergazette.com/2025/11/18/denver-police-officer-found-justified-in-fatal-shooting-of-man-with-pellet-gun/
https://denverite.com/2025/11/18/denver-police-officer-not-charged-fatal-shooting/

On 08/21/2025, at approximately 11:15 a.m., Greenville police officers were dispatched to the Bank of Travelers Rest at 1041 Verdae Boulevard after bank personnel reported an apparent fraud in progress. The bank is located near the intersection of Verdae Boulevard and Woodruff Road.
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The police response was specifically initiated by the reported bank fraud. Officers arrived while the man was still at the property and confronted him in connection with the investigation.
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The man ran from officers, and Greenville police chased him on foot through the bank property. During the foot chase, police said the man produced a handgun and shot himself. No Greenville officer was reported to have fired a weapon.
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The shooting occurred in the parking-lot area of the Bank of Travelers Rest. Greenville police secured the scene, and the Greenville County Coroner's Office joined the death investigation.
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The circumstances place the death within the database category of suicide under police duress: police confronted the man during an active fraud investigation, he ran, officers pursued him on foot, and he fatally shot himself during that pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Greenville police officers who confronted and pursued the man have not been publicly identified.
.

https://www.foxcarolina.com/2025/08/21/police-suspect-shot-himself-during-foot-chase-greenville-bank
https://www.wyff4.com/article/greenville-bank-fraud-suspect-suicide/65862639
https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/man-shoots-himself-following-police-chase-in-greenville
https://www.audacy.com/989word/news/local/bank-fraud-leads-to-chase-and-self-inflicted-shooting
https://www.bankoftravelersrest.com/locations-hours

On 08/21/2025, shortly before 7 a.m., Chandler police responded to a 911 call from a residence near Frye Road and Windstream Place. The caller reported that an unknown man was attempting to enter the home and was arguing with the caller's father in the garage. The man was later identified as Enrique Lopez Gress. Police said there was no known connection between Gress and the people at the residence.
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Gress's age was initially reported incorrectly by at least one secondary source as 32. Funeral records establish that he was born on 07/07/2000 and died on 08/21/2025, making him 25 years old.
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According to police, Gress drove away as officers arrived and struck a Chandler police SUV while leaving. Officers pursued him for a short distance. The pursuit ended at the busy intersection of McQueen and Pecos roads after Gress's vehicle collided with an uninvolved motorist driving a white Jeep. Chandler officers used three police vehicles to box in Gress's vehicle.
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Police ordered Gress not to move. According to investigators, Gress instead got out carrying an AK-47-style rifle equipped with a drum magazine and ran from the boxed-in vehicle toward the nearby CVS parking lot. Officers initially used pepper-ball rounds in an attempt to stop him.
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Police alleged that while officers were deploying the less-lethal rounds, Gress began pointing the rifle toward them. Multiple Chandler police officers then opened fire. Investigators said Gress fell but continued holding and pointing the rifle in the officers' direction, and officers continued firing. Gress died at the scene.
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The subsequent investigation established that Gress fired one round from the AK-47 during the encounter. Investigators also reported finding a handgun on him. A search of his vehicle recovered another rifle, another handgun, body armor, ammunition, drugs and cash.
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However, independent video raised a significant question about the police description of the shooting. Dash-camera video obtained by Arizona's Family appears to show Gress running away from officers when police gunfire begins. Civil-rights attorney Ben Taylor, who was not involved in the case, reviewed the footage and said it showed a man running away from officers when he was shot. The video did not by itself resolve whether Gress simultaneously moved or pointed the rifle toward officers from another angle.
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The shooting also occurred in a heavily traveled intersection during morning traffic. Video shows civilian vehicles in the immediate vicinity as multiple officers fired. The number of rounds and the decision to fire in the intersection prompted questions in subsequent news coverage about the danger created for motorists and whether the shooting was justified.
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Mesa Police Department detectives investigated the shooting through the East Valley Critical Incident Response Team, providing an outside-agency criminal investigation of the Chandler officers' actions.
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The investigation was eventually submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. County Attorney records now show the Enrique Lopez Gress shooting as Cleared. EVCIRT/Mesa Police submitted the case on 01/06/2026, and the County Attorney recorded its decision on 05/11/2026.
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A separate court-record search also establishes that Gress had a pending traffic case arising only weeks before his death. On 06/08/2025 he was cited for reckless driving and driving more than 20 mph over the posted speed limit. The charges were ultimately dismissed at the prosecutor's request on 10/31/2025, after his death. These records independently confirm his full legal name as Enrique Lopez Gress.
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Funeral records identify Gress as a Phoenix resident and give his dates as 07/07/2000–08/21/2025. A public visitation was held at Avenidas Funeral Chapel in Avondale on 09/23/2025.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Multiple Chandler police officers fired at Enrique Lopez Gress. Despite the later investigative reporting, witness video, EVCIRT investigation and completion of the Maricopa County Attorney's criminal review, the shooting officers' identities have not been publicly disclosed in the material located for this update.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/chandler/police-incident-shuts-down-area-of-mcqueen-and-pecos-roads-in-chandler
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/21/active-police-situation-shuts-down-major-chandler-intersection/
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/public-advised-avoid-area-chandler-amid-police-situation
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/22/armed-would-be-burglary-suspect-killed-chandler-police-shooting/
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/23/police-expert-breaks-down-deadly-chandler-police-shooting-use-force-debate/
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/28/does-video-match-what-police-say-about-chandler-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.avenidasfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/enrique-gress
https://maricopacountyattorney.org/562/First-Responder-Critical-Incident-Callou
https://justicecourts.maricopa.gov/app/courtrecords/CaseInfo?casenumber=TR2025123895000
 

On 08/21/2025, 36-year-old James Crary of Newport, New Hampshire, was shot and killed by Springfield Police Officer Vincent T. Franchi and Windsor County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Jalava outside 78 Valley Street in Springfield. Crary was not the person police had gone to the property to arrest.
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The police operation began after an alleged assault, robbery and kidnapping earlier that afternoon. According to the Vermont Attorney General’s later review, police were seeking Matthew Hewitt and another man in connection with that investigation. At approximately 8:56 p.m., Springfield police officers and Windsor County sheriff’s deputies went to 78 Valley Street to arrest Hewitt.
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Crary had arrived at the Valley Street property separately. People at the residence later told the Valley News that Crary had stopped by to check on a female friend, stayed briefly and was leaving when police arrived. Witnesses said he had just said goodbye and gotten into the white sedan in the driveway.
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Springfield Police Officers Vincent Franchi and Adam Woodell parked outside the residence and walked down the driveway. Woodell told Franchi that he believed the white sedan Crary was driving was the same vehicle that another person sought in the investigation had been riding in earlier. Jalava followed the Springfield officers down the driveway in a marked sheriff’s cruiser with its emergency lights activated and parked near the rear of the driveway.
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According to the Attorney General’s reconstruction, police ordered Crary to stop. Crary reversed the sedan into a pile of debris and then completed a three-point turn so the vehicle faced down the driveway toward Valley Street. Police alleged that Crary revved the engine and suddenly accelerated toward Franchi and Jalava.
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Franchi and Jalava fired at the car almost simultaneously. The Attorney General later concluded that Franchi was positioned between the approaching vehicle and Jalava’s cruiser and that Jalava was also in the vehicle’s path. Crary’s sedan stopped after crashing into a Windsor County sheriff’s cruiser.
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Witnesses at the residence described hearing approximately four gunshots. Randi Sargent showed reporters bullet holes in the wall of a converted garage where several people had been watching a movie. She said police bullets entered the room and narrowly missed her boyfriend, prompting the people inside to get onto the floor and barricade the door.
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Khristal Blanchard, who was upstairs, said she heard the shots, looked from a window and saw Crary’s head fall onto the steering wheel. She said police subsequently ordered everyone in the house downstairs with their hands raised. Hewitt, the man police had originally gone there to arrest, was among those who came downstairs and was arrested without further violence.
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Crary got out of the vehicle after the shooting. Police and emergency personnel attempted medical treatment, but he died at the scene. His body remained covered in the driveway for more than 12 hours before it was transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington.
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An autopsy conducted on 08/23/2025 determined that Crary died from gunshot wounds to the head. The medical examiner classified his death as a homicide.
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Crary’s family and people who witnessed the police operation publicly challenged aspects of the police account and questioned the decision to shoot him. His sister, Kristin Crary, said her brother was not a violent person. Crary’s longtime friend Julie Morse said she believed he had been startled by the sudden arrival of numerous police officers while he was attempting to leave and described him as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Morse went to the shooting location the following day and spoke with people who had been present. She later participated in a memorial for Crary at the driveway where police killed him. Crary left behind a 10-year-old daughter.
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Blanchard also directly challenged police at the scene over whether the shooting had been necessary. She said an officer responded by apologizing and explaining that police had not gone to the property for Crary but were looking for Hewitt.
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The Vermont State Police investigated the shooting, including body-camera footage, cruiser-camera recordings, third-party video, physical evidence and witness interviews. Franchi and Jalava were interviewed by investigators and cooperated with the investigation.
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Body-camera footage was subsequently made public. It showed Crary reversing into debris, turning the vehicle around and driving down the driveway as Franchi and Jalava stood near the sheriff’s cruiser. The footage became part of the evidence considered in the criminal review of the shooting.
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On 01/29/2026, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced that Franchi and Jalava would not be criminally prosecuted. Her office concluded that the officers reasonably believed the approaching vehicle presented an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury and that they had no reasonable avenue of escape. Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan, acting as conflict counsel for the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office, separately reviewed the case and also declined prosecution.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Vincent T. Franchi and Bryan Jalava both fired at James Crary.
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A significant employment issue involving Jalava emerged only after the shooting. A September 2025 public-records investigation found that Jalava was among at least seven Windsor County Sheriff’s Department employees whose appointments as deputy sheriffs had never been formally filed with the Windsor County clerk as required by Vermont statute. Jalava had been working as a paid Windsor County deputy since May 2024 when he shot Crary in August 2025.
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The records issue was not limited to a clerical delay following the shooting. The investigation found that Jalava’s formal deputy appointment had not been filed despite his having worked for the department for more than a year. The revelation generated scrutiny of Sheriff Ryan Palmer’s administration and whether deputies had been properly commissioned.
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While the fatal-shooting investigation was still pending, Sheriff Palmer returned Jalava to limited duty. Jalava remained armed and was assigned duties including traffic details and serving paperwork. Palmer publicly defended returning him to work before the shooting investigation was completed.
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Jalava had previously worked for the Hinsdale Police Department in New Hampshire and the Windham County Sheriff’s Department in Vermont before joining the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department.
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Franchi had previously left the Springfield Police Department and returned to the agency in April 2025, approximately four months before killing Crary.

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/springfield-vermont-police-shooting-investigation/65869951
https://www.wcax.com/2025/08/22/one-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-springfield
https://www.wcax.com/2025/08/23/vt-police-identify-man-killed-officers-involved-deadly-shooting/
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-08-25/vermont-state-police-release-details-fatal-police-shooting-springfield
https://vtdigger.org/2025/08/25/officers-who-shot-and-killed-man-in-springfield-identified/
https://vnews.com/2025/09/04/james-crary-fatal-shooting-springfield/
https://vtdigger.org/2025/09/05/witnesses-police-fatally-shot-man-in-springfield-during-operation-targeting-someone-else/
https://vermontdailychronicle.com/appointments-for-seven-deputy-sheriffs-never-filed/
https://vnews.com/2025/09/30/windsor-county-sheriff-deputy-commissions/
https://vermontbiz.com/news/2026/january/29/ag-officers-involved-shooting-springfield-deemed-justified
https://www.wcax.com/news/2026/01/29/vermont-ag-says-officers-justified-fatal-springfield-shooting/
https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-law-enforcement-officers-will-not-be-prosecuted-in-deadly-springfield-shooting/70190348
https://www.mynbc5.com/article/body-cam-footage-springfield-vermont-crary/70238056

On 08/21/2025, Knoxville Police Department Sgt. Joseph Weppler shot 47-year-old Steven Funk during a domestic violence response at a residence in the 300 block of Roche Street in Knoxville. Later investigation identified Officer Matthew Eagleton as the second Knoxville officer who responded but established that Weppler fired the fatal shot.
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At approximately 11:13 p.m., Marion County dispatch received a 911 call from Funk's wife, Andrea Funk. She reported that Funk had driven his vehicle into the house and was attempting to get inside despite a no-contact order prohibiting him from doing so. The 911 connection remained open as the confrontation continued.
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According to the Iowa Attorney General's subsequent investigation, Funk had driven east through an alley and crashed his vehicle into the northwest rear corner of the house. Investigators reported that he tore a video doorbell from the house, broke a panel from the backyard fence and kicked in a rear door.
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Andrea Funk remained connected to 911 as Funk entered the house. According to the Attorney General's reconstruction, Funk beat on the bedroom door until he forced his way inside and began strangling her. Dispatchers could hear the confrontation through the open telephone connection.
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Weppler and Eagleton arrived and entered the residence. As they reached the bedroom, investigators reported that they could hear Andrea screaming and then gagging. Funk was positioned against the bedroom door in a way that prevented the officers from fully entering.
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Weppler managed to push partially through the doorway. According to the Attorney General's report, Weppler saw Funk with a hand around Andrea's throat and ordered him to stop. Police reported that Funk did not comply. Weppler then fired his handgun, striking Funk.
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Police and emergency medical personnel provided medical treatment. Funk was transported to a Des Moines hospital, where he died from the gunshot wound. Andrea Funk was treated at a local hospital and released.
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The subsequent investigation also established that Funk himself had previously worked in law enforcement as a Warren County sheriff's deputy. The Attorney General reported that area law-enforcement agencies were familiar with him from encounters in more recent years.
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The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation conducted the independent investigation into Weppler's shooting of Funk. The case was then reviewed under the Iowa Attorney General's independent authority to investigate police conduct resulting in death.
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On 09/22/2025, the Iowa Attorney General's Office publicly identified Sgt. Joseph Weppler as the officer who shot Funk and Officer Matthew Eagleton as the other responding officer. The Attorney General concluded that Weppler's shooting of Funk was legally justified and did not file criminal charges against him.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Joseph Weppler was the Knoxville police sergeant who shot and killed Steven Funk. Matthew Eagleton responded with Weppler and participated in the intervention but was not identified by the Attorney General as having fired at Funk.
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Weppler appears in a separate Iowa appellate case concerning police conduct during a traffic stop. In State of Iowa v. Donna Lee Cox, the Iowa Court of Appeals examined body-camera recordings of Weppler and another Knoxville officer during a traffic stop in which a police dog was used to conduct a free-air sniff while Weppler completed a citation. The defendant challenged the duration of the detention under the Fourth Amendment. After independently reviewing the officers' body-camera footage, the appellate court concluded that Weppler had not deliberately prolonged the stop and rejected that constitutional challenge.
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The fatal shooting of Funk received a formal independent review by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation followed by the Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General concluded on 09/22/2025 that Weppler reasonably used deadly force while intervening in what the office characterized as an attempted murder of Andrea Funk.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/knoxville-police-shooting-leaves-1-124911577.html
https://www.kcci.com/article/knoxville-police-officers-shoot-suspect-during-assault/65870587
https://dps.iowa.gov/press-release/2025-08-26/update-subject-named-knoxville-officer-involved-shooting
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/IACIO/bulletins/3f3cc1a
https://www.kcci.com/article/steven-funk-knoxville-officer-involved-shooting/65903555
https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-attorney-general-says-fatal-police-shooting-in-marion-county-was-justified/68003999
https://www.radioiowa.com/2025/09/22/iowa-attorney-general-clears-knoxville-officer-in-fatal-shooting/
https://law.justia.com/cases/iowa/court-of-appeals/2025/23-1771.html

On 08/21/2025, 39-year-old Jacob Illian was riding an electric bicycle near East Valley Parkway and Rose Street in Escondido when Escondido Police Officer Jason Ingco attempted to make contact with him. Initial police reporting provided almost no explanation for why police wanted to stop Illian, stating only that an officer attempted to stop the rider and that Illian did not yield. Later court proceedings and a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed by Illian's family substantially changed the available account of how the encounter began.
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According to the family's federal complaint, police were attempting what they characterized as a consensual encounter rather than stopping Illian on suspicion of a crime. The lawsuit alleges police had no evidence that Illian had committed a crime or presented a danger to anyone. Illian continued riding away on his e-bike.
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Illian entered a designated pedestrian and bicycle path where motor vehicles were prohibited. According to the federal complaint, Ingco drove his marked police vehicle onto the path and pursued Illian for approximately a quarter mile. The lawsuit alleges that Ingco followed closely behind Illian at high speed despite the path being used by pedestrians, bicyclists, people walking dogs and families with children.
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The lawsuit alleges that Ingco accelerated toward Illian from behind and deliberately struck his bicycle with the police vehicle in an attempt to stop him. The family's attorneys characterize the collision as an attempted pursuit intervention maneuver against a bicycle rather than an accidental collision.
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According to the complaint, Ingco did not brake before striking Illian from behind. The impact knocked Illian from his e-bike, after which Ingco's police vehicle ran over him.
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Illian suffered catastrophic blunt-force trauma to his head. He died as a result of the collision. Later criminal proceedings identified the police vehicle's collision with Illian as the cause of his death.
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The Oceanside Police Department assumed responsibility for investigating the collision under an interagency agreement because an Escondido police vehicle and officer were directly involved.
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The circumstances surrounding the attempted stop remained largely unexplained publicly for months. Initial Escondido police statements said only that Illian had failed to yield when an officer attempted to stop him. Later information alleged that police were not attempting to detain Illian for a crime at all but were seeking a consensual encounter, which Illian was legally free to decline.
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Illian's family said he was riding his e-bike to pick up his 12-year-old daughter from school when Ingco began following him. Illian was married and the father of two daughters. He had previously suffered partial paralysis following an unrelated gunshot wound to his neck and had worked in automobile detailing and construction before going on disability.
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The San Diego County District Attorney's Office subsequently conducted a criminal review of Ingco's conduct. On 05/07/2026, prosecutors filed a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge against Ingco in connection with Illian's death.
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Ingco appeared in San Diego County Superior Court on 06/04/2026 and pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors alleged that Ingco unlawfully caused Illian's death while driving the police vehicle. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in county jail.
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Ingco was released on his own recognizance. The Escondido Police Department placed him on paid administrative leave while the criminal case remained pending. His trial was scheduled for September 2026.
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Illian's family publicly challenged the characterization of his death as an ordinary pursuit collision. After Ingco's arraignment, family members and their attorneys said they viewed the death as the foreseeable result of using a police vehicle to chase an e-bike rider on a designated bicycle path. Illian's widow, Merari Illian, said the family was seeking accountability for her husband's death.
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On 06/08/2026, Illian's estate and family filed a federal civil-rights and wrongful-death lawsuit against Ingco, the City of Escondido and unidentified additional officers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The plaintiffs include Illian's estate, Merari Magallanes, Sun Tok Illian and a minor identified as M.I. The case is Estate of Jacob Illian et al. v. City of Escondido et al., No. 3:26-cv-03448-H-JLB.
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The lawsuit asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments as well as state-law claims. It alleges that Ingco lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain Illian, unlawfully pursued him onto the bicycle path and intentionally used the police vehicle to strike him.
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The complaint further alleges that Ingco's use of the police vehicle against Illian amounted to deadly force. The family contends that Illian presented no immediate threat that justified deadly force and that Ingco intentionally struck his bicycle from behind.
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The lawsuit also targets the City of Escondido's pursuit policies and practices. It alleges that the department maintained inadequate pursuit restrictions and cites what the plaintiffs describe as a broader pattern of dangerous police pursuits involving relatively minor or nonexistent underlying offenses.
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The family's attorneys have publicly rejected the proposition that the collision was simply an unavoidable accident. Attorney Tim Scott described the death as the foreseeable consequence of the decision to chase a bicycle with a police vehicle and intentionally strike it.
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The federal litigation remains active. Escondido City Council records show that the council met in closed session on 06/24/2026 concerning the pending Illian litigation.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Jason Ingco was the Escondido police officer driving the police vehicle that pursued, struck and killed Jacob Illian. Ingco was 35 when prosecutors charged him in 2026.
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The most significant officer-background development is the criminal prosecution itself. On 05/07/2026, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office charged Ingco with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for his actions while driving the police vehicle that killed Illian. Ingco pleaded not guilty on 06/04/2026 and was released on his own recognizance. The Escondido Police Department subsequently confirmed that he was on paid administrative leave.
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The federal civil-rights lawsuit filed against Ingco goes substantially beyond the sparse account originally released by police. It alleges that Ingco had no reasonable suspicion that Illian had committed a crime and nevertheless followed him onto a path closed to motor vehicles.
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The complaint alleges that Ingco pursued Illian closely for approximately a quarter mile and intentionally rammed the bicycle from behind. It further alleges that Ingco did not brake before striking Illian and then drove over him after the initial impact.
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Illian's family is seeking to hold Ingco individually liable under federal civil-rights law as well as pursuing claims against the City of Escondido. The federal docket identifies Ingco, the City and Doe Officers 1 through 10 as defendants. The family demanded a jury trial.
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The lawsuit also raises broader concerns about Escondido Police Department pursuit practices. The complaint alleges a pattern of dangerous pursuits and inadequate departmental restrictions governing when officers should initiate or continue pursuits. It specifically points to additional fatal Escondido police pursuits as evidence supporting the family's municipal-liability claims.
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The family's attorneys, Mark Fleming and Tim Scott, are pursuing the civil case while Ingco's criminal prosecution proceeds separately. Illian's widow and other relatives have publicly supported the criminal prosecution and are seeking additional accountability through the federal lawsuit.
.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/escondido-officer-charged-in-deadly-e-bike-crash/4033056/
https://thecoastnews.com/epd-officer-pleads-not-guilty-to-misdemeanor-vehicular-manslaughter/
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/electric-motorcycle-rider-crashes-dies-in-police-pursuit-in-escondido
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/e-motorcycle-rider-killed-after-crashing-into-escondido-police-car-during-chase/3890148/
https://thecoastnews.com/electric-motorcycle-rider-killed-in-police-pursuit-in-escondido/
https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2025/08/22/electric-motorcycle-rider-killed-in-police-pursuit-in-escondido/
https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2026/06/04/escondido-officer-pleads-not-guilty-in-death-of-man-riding-his-e-bike/
https://thecoastnews.com/family-sues-escondido-police-officer-charged-in-fatal-e-bike-pursuit/
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/casdce/3%3A2026cv03448/858551
https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/escondidca-pubu/MEET-Packet-ba5732c880744d268e76327817422b39.pdf

On 08/20/2025, shortly after midnight, 37-year-old Troy Hamilton was shot and killed by two St. Ann police officers on the front porch of his home in the 3300 block of Welsberg Drive in Bel-Ridge. The encounter began over an alleged stop-sign violation, and Hamilton was killed outside St. Ann's jurisdiction after police pursued him into Bel-Ridge.
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A St. John police officer initially attempted to stop Hamilton near St. Charles Rock Road and North and South Road after police alleged that Hamilton failed to stop at a stop sign. St. Ann officers who were nearby joined the pursuit. The later-released police video confirmed that the alleged stop-sign violation was the specific initiating reason for the attempted stop.
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St. Ann police deployed a StarChase GPS tracking projectile onto Hamilton's red Pontiac. Police nevertheless continued following the vehicle. Later-released video showed the Pontiac reaching approximately 51 mph before Hamilton drove to his residence on Welsberg Drive in Bel-Ridge.
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Hamilton's passenger, Terrell Davis, later said Hamilton repeatedly expressed confusion about why police were trying to stop him. Davis said Hamilton drove home, got out of the car and headed toward his house.
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St. Ann officers followed Hamilton onto his property and pursued him on foot toward his front porch. Police later said they did not know at the time that Hamilton had driven to his own residence.
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Police alleged that Hamilton was gripping his waistband as he ran and that during a physical struggle on the porch he produced a firearm and pointed it toward the St. Ann officers. Two St. Ann officers then fired repeatedly at Hamilton. Police subsequently reported recovering a handgun beneath his body and alleged that the weapon had previously been reported stolen.
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There is no officer body-camera recording of the critical encounter. The two St. Ann officers who shot Hamilton were detectives, and authorities said departmental policy did not require them to wear body cameras. Consequently, the publicly released visual evidence does not provide a close-up view establishing precisely what Hamilton had in his hand at the instant police fired.
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Hamilton's family strongly disputes the police account. His father, Charles Hamilton, and family attorney Jermaine Wooten reviewed residential surveillance footage and said it does not show Hamilton threatening the officers or presenting a gun. Wooten said the footage shows Hamilton attempting to reach his front door before officers took him to the ground.
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The family's surveillance footage became particularly significant because the physical confrontation lasted only seconds and neither shooting officer had a body camera. Wooten estimated the interaction between Hamilton and police at the porch lasted approximately seven seconds. He said the available recording did not show Hamilton pointing a gun toward police.
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When the North County Police Cooperative eventually released a 15-minute edited video in October 2025, Hamilton's family continued challenging the police narrative. Wooten said the footage showed Hamilton being taken to the ground and then shot while face-down. He estimated officers fired five to seven times. Charles Hamilton said the footage did not establish what, if anything, his son was holding.
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Hamilton's widow, Britny Boyd, was inside the house with their four children when police shot him on the porch. She said she heard the gunfire and subsequently found her husband lying outside. She publicly accused St. Ann police of destroying her family and rejected the department's account of the shooting.
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The family also raised a separate and serious issue concerning medical aid after the shooting. Boyd said she had to call 911 herself seeking medical assistance for Hamilton. She said she begged police to help him while officers remained with their guns drawn. Family attorney Wooten similarly alleged that officers left Hamilton lying wounded without immediately providing aid.
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The police video released in October presented a different account of the post-shooting response, showing officers eventually calling for paramedics and attempting CPR. The family's allegations therefore include not only the justification for the shooting but the timing and adequacy of medical assistance afterward.
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Hamilton's father said police were attempting to portray his son as dangerous in order to justify killing him over a traffic stop. The family retained civil-rights attorney Jermaine Wooten and demanded the complete police recordings and other evidence rather than relying on an edited police presentation.
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The shooting also prompted intervention from the St. Louis County NAACP. Chapter president John Bowman questioned why the North County Police Cooperative was investigating officers from another small municipal department with which it regularly works. Bowman called for the St. Louis County Police Department to conduct the investigation instead and said he had previously filed formal complaints concerning St. Ann police pursuit practices.
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Bowman specifically criticized St. Ann's aggressive pursuit practices and questioned why police continued dangerous vehicle pursuits when GPS-tracking technology was available. In Hamilton's case, St. Ann police had actually deployed a StarChase GPS tracker during the pursuit.
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Questions surrounding the independence of the investigation ultimately led to federal involvement. On 08/22/2025, the North County Police Cooperative announced that it had coordinated with the FBI to provide an independent review of the shooting.
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The North County Police Cooperative released its edited critical-incident video on 10/29/2025. Police incorporated surveillance footage, audio and photographs into the presentation and maintained that Hamilton produced and pointed a gun during the struggle. The family and its attorney immediately disputed whether the released evidence actually demonstrated that allegation and criticized the use of an edited police presentation rather than release of all underlying evidence.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Two St. Ann Police Department detectives fired at Troy Hamilton. Despite the October 2025 release of video and extensive subsequent reporting, the department and investigating agencies did not publicly identify the two shooting officers in the material located during this update.
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The officers' identities are especially significant because they were not wearing body cameras. Authorities said detectives were exempt from the St. Ann Police Department's body-camera requirement, leaving surveillance cameras and other external recordings as the principal visual evidence of the fatal confrontation.
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St. Ann Police Department pursuit practices were already the subject of complaints before Hamilton's death. St. Louis County NAACP president John Bowman said he had filed formal complaints concerning the department's pursuit practices and described the agency as having an aggressive chase policy. After Hamilton's killing, Bowman questioned why officers continued pursuing vehicles through populated communities despite having technology such as GPS trackers available.
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The St. Ann Police Department also has documented prior federal civil-rights litigation concerning police use of force. In Hollingsworth v. City of St. Ann, a woman sued the city and St. Ann personnel after an officer used a Taser on her during booking when she would not change into jail clothing. The case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. That litigation involved other St. Ann personnel and predates Hamilton's death, but it documents prior federal litigation over the department's use of force.
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Hamilton's family retained attorney Jermaine Wooten and publicly accused the officers of using unjustified deadly force and failing to promptly render medical aid. The family continued challenging the shooting after viewing both residential surveillance footage and the police-edited October video.

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/shooting-involving-north-st-ann-police-officer-suspect-dead/63-34c51faf-98dc-4400-9703-b120b691b509
https://www.kmov.com/2025/08/20/1-person-dead-officer-involved-shooting-st-ann
https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/officer-involved-shooting-in-st-ann
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/20/1-person-dead-officer-involved-shooting-st-ann/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/21/they-robbed-me-my-husband-friends-family-speak-out-after-deadly-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/21/man-killed-by-st-ann-police-after-chase-questions-raised-about-investigation-transparency/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/22/fbi-review-family-challenges-police-narrative-after-fatal-shooting-bel-ridge/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/22/fbi-requested-independent-review-deadly-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/10/29/watch-police-release-video-deadly-officer-involved-shooting-north-county/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/10/29/family-reacts-after-video-footage-deadly-officer-involved-shooting-released/
https://graphics.stltoday.com/apps/homicide-tracker/2025/victims/troy-hamilton%2B2025-08-20/
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-8th-circuit/1712515.html

On 08/20/2025, at approximately 8:15 p.m., Menifee police officers responded to the 27000 block of Freedom Lane near Ensemble Drive after receiving reports that 57-year-old Dennis Martz was threatening suicide. Police said Martz was in the backyard of his residence and had access to multiple firearms.
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The initiating call was therefore a mental-health and suicide crisis rather than a report that Martz had committed a crime against another person. Menifee police spokesman Chase Coburn said neighbors reported that Martz was in his backyard with firearms and threatening to kill himself.
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Police said responding officers attempted to communicate with Martz but were unsuccessful. Members of the Menifee Police Department Crisis Negotiation Team were called to the residence and also attempted to establish contact with him. According to police, Martz did not respond to the negotiators.
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Police reported observing Martz in his backyard with multiple firearms. According to the department's account, Martz eventually pointed a firearm toward officers. Two Menifee police officers then opened fire, striking him.
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After the shooting, officers secured the firearms and provided medical treatment. Paramedics responded and continued lifesaving efforts, but Martz died from his gunshot wounds.
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Both officers who fired were placed on paid administrative leave under department policy. The Riverside County Force Investigations Detail assumed responsibility for investigating the shooting. The investigative team includes representatives of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
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Menifee Police Department's transparency site subsequently added a “Community Incident Debrief – August 20, 2025” specifically for this critical incident. The department maintains these debriefs pursuant to California's public-records requirements governing video and audio from police shootings and other critical uses of force.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Two Menifee police officers fired at Dennis Martz. Their identities have not been publicly disclosed in the news reports, later indexed coverage, or publicly searchable material located for this update.
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The Menifee Police Department itself was facing an extraordinary officer-misconduct case at the time Martz was killed. Just eight days before the shooting, Menifee Police Officer Juan Pesina was arrested following an independent Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted women he encountered through his position as a police officer.
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Pesina was subsequently charged with 15 felony counts involving five women, including rape, sodomy, forced oral copulation, assault with intent to commit rape and extortion. The alleged conduct occurred between 2023 and August 2025. Civil lawsuits were subsequently filed by two women accusing Pesina of sexual assault. One lawsuit also accused the City of Menifee and Menifee Police Department of negligence in retaining him despite alleged indications of a propensity for violence.
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That misconduct case does not establish any connection between Pesina and the officers who shot Martz. It is relevant as documented contemporaneous litigation and misconduct involving the same police department, but should not be attributed to Martz's unidentified shooting officers unless later records establish that connection.

https://patch.com/california/murrieta/menifee-police-kill-armed-man-after-suicide-threat-officer-involved-shooting
https://myvalleynews.com/blog/2025/08/21/reportedly-armed-man-fatally-shot/
https://mynewsla.com/crime/2025/08/21/menifee-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting/
https://canyonlakeinsider.com/menifee-man-fatally-shot-in-officer-involved-shooting/
https://menifeepolice.org/transparency-copy/
https://menifee247.com/2026/02/lawsuits-seek-damages-for-sexual-assault-accuse-pd-of-negligence.html

On 08/20/2025, 24-year-old Janae Fieldings was killed when the Honda Accord she was driving crashed and caught fire during a Baton Rouge Police Department pursuit. Although the first reports appeared on August 21, the fatal encounter occurred late Wednesday night, August 20.
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The police encounter began in Baton Rouge's Mall City area when officers attempted to stop Fieldings's 2020 Honda Accord for what the department described only as a “traffic violation” or “traffic violations.” The specific alleged traffic violation that caused police to initiate the stop was not disclosed in the available reporting.
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Fieldings continued driving away while Baton Rouge police pursued. The entire pursuit lasted approximately two minutes. During the pursuit, police alleged that someone inside the Honda threw a handgun from the vehicle on Lobdell Avenue. Police subsequently recovered the weapon and described it as a Glock handgun equipped with what appeared to be a machine-gun conversion device. Available reporting does not establish which person inside the Honda allegedly discarded the weapon.
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The Honda continued west in the 5100 block of Greenwell Springs Road from Lobdell Avenue. At approximately 10:08 p.m., Fieldings lost control near North Foster Drive. The car left the roadway, struck a water line, went through a wooden fence and crashed into the rear/side of a business. Surveillance video obtained by WBRZ captured the Honda traveling at high speed immediately before it crashed into the building.
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The collision caused extensive damage and the Honda caught fire. Employees of the nearby Fast Stop told WBRZ that after hearing the crash they went outside and saw multiple Baton Rouge police officers surrounding the wrecked vehicle.
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Police said responding officers used at least four fire extinguishers in an effort to suppress the vehicle fire. Officers pulled Fieldings and her two passengers from the wreckage and began emergency medical treatment. Fieldings died at the scene. Both passengers were transported to a hospital in critical condition.
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The crash damaged a water line badly enough that a nearby library was temporarily closed while repairs were made.
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Later reporting identified the driver as Janae Fieldings, 24. The available news accounts provide considerably more detail about the pursuit and crash than the initial breaking-news coverage, but Baton Rouge police continued to describe the initiating offense only generically as a traffic violation rather than identifying the particular traffic law officers alleged Fieldings violated.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Baton Rouge police officers who attempted the initial traffic stop and participated in the approximately two-minute pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.wafb.com/2025/08/21/brpd-24-year-old-driver-dead-2-others-critically-injured-crash-during-police-chase/
https://www.fox8live.com/2025/08/21/brpd-24-year-old-driver-dead-2-others-critically-injured-crash-during-police-chase/
https://www.wbrz.com/news/video-car-crashes-into-side-of-building-at-end-of-brpd-chase-one-killed-and-two-hurt-in-wreck/

On 08/20/2025, shortly after midnight, an unidentified driver died after a Byram Police Department pursuit of a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro ended in a fiery crash at Elton Road and the I-55 East Frontage Road in Hinds County near Jackson. Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers responded to investigate at approximately 12:06 a.m.
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The specific initiating reason for the police pursuit was that the Chevrolet Camaro had been reported stolen. Byram police began pursuing the Camaro and followed it north toward Jackson.
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The Camaro entered the Jackson city limits during the pursuit. Mississippi Highway Patrol subsequently reported that the pursuing Byram officer lost sight of the vehicle after it entered Jackson. This is significant because the fatal collision was not witnessed by the pursuing officer in the accounts released publicly.
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After losing sight of the Camaro, police subsequently located it at Elton Road and the East Frontage Road. The vehicle had crashed and caught fire. The driver was trapped inside and was unable to escape the burning vehicle. The driver died at the scene.
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The body was transported to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory in Pearl for identification. Initial reports therefore did not provide the driver's name, age, gender or race. The Mississippi Highway Patrol assumed responsibility for investigating the fatal crash at Byram police's request.
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The pursuit deserves additional scrutiny in light of later events involving the same department. Less than two months after this death, another Byram police pursuit entered Jackson and ended in a crash that killed two uninvolved women. On 10/18/2025, Byram police pursued a Ford Expedition north on I-55 after another agency reported a retail theft of cigarettes at a Dollar General in Terry. Byram Police Chief David Errington said a Byram officer located the vehicle, the driver initially stopped, and then drove away when ordered out.
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That October pursuit continued into Jackson and ended when the pursued Ford Expedition crashed into a Nissan at Raymond Road and Robinson Road. Shali Davenport, 48, and her mother, Debra Washington, 66, were killed. A third person in their vehicle was injured. Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigated that crash.
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Byram Police Department's own historical records also document previous problems involving pursuit-policy compliance. Its 2015 annual report states that an officer initiated a pursuit for speeding on Siwell Road that ended when the pursued vehicle crashed into a fence. The department's subsequent review determined that the officer had violated pursuit policy and documented training issues.
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That same annual report shows that Byram police were already conducting pursuits beyond the city's boundaries into Jackson. In another 2015 incident, officers pursued a vehicle connected to a burglary and auto theft into Jackson, where the vehicle eventually crashed through a fence and entered a pond. The department reported four vehicle pursuits during that year and subsequently revised its pursuit policy following civil-liability training.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Byram police officer or officers who initiated and participated in the 08/20/2025 pursuit have not been publicly identified.
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Because the individual pursuing officers remain unidentified, the most pertinent documented background concerns Byram Police Department's pursuit practices. Department records establish that Byram has historically conducted pursuits that continued into Jackson and that at least one earlier pursuit was determined internally to have involved an officer's violation of pursuit policy.
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The August 2025 death was followed approximately two months later by another fatal Byram pursuit into Jackson, this time killing two uninvolved women. In that case, the initiating incident was a shoplifting report involving cigarettes, although police had initially received information suggesting the person might be armed.

https://magnoliastatelive.com/2025/08/21/driver-dies-in-fiery-crash-after-chase-with-mississippi-police/
https://www.wlbt.com/2025/08/20/police-investigating-deadly-crash-jackson-bridge/
https://www.wapt.com/article/driver-killed-in-fiery-crash-during-stolen-car-chase/65835844
https://thebeatofthecapital.com/2025/08/20/driver-killed-in-fiery-crash-after-chase-from-byram-to-jackson-mhp/
https://police.byram-ms.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/05/2015-Annual-Report_BOA.pdf
https://www.wapt.com/article/police-investigating-fatal-crash-in-hinds-county/69081618
https://www.wlbt.com/2025/10/18/two-killed-after-armed-robbery-suspect-crashes-into-vehicle/
https://darkhorsepressnow.com/news/top-story/2025-10-19/alleged-terry-armed-robber-flees-byram-police-strikes-passenger-vehicle-in-south-jackson/

On 08/20/2025, 40-year-old Waylon Ray Hedrick was shot and killed by a Washington County sheriff’s corporal at the end of a vehicle pursuit on Furnace Creek Road south of Potosi. Contemporary police reporting did not name Hedrick, but funeral records identify Waylon Ray Hedrick of Potosi as having died that same day at age 40. His obituary gives his birth date as 04/23/1985.
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The police encounter did not originate as a traffic stop. According to Washington County Sheriff Dwayne Reed, deputies were seeking Hedrick for questioning concerning an alleged assault of his girlfriend. Police also alleged that the vehicle Hedrick was driving had been stolen from the woman.
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A Washington County sheriff’s corporal located the vehicle and initiated a pursuit. The sheriff’s office described the shooting officer as a corporal. The pursuit eventually reached Furnace Creek Road, where Hedrick drove behind an abandoned house and stopped.
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According to the sheriff’s account, the corporal got out of his patrol vehicle, approached Hedrick’s vehicle and ordered him to get out. Police alleged that Hedrick instead attempted to drive away and struck a tree a short distance away.
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The corporal approached the crashed vehicle a second time and again ordered Hedrick to get out. Police alleged that the vehicle then became dislodged from the tree and accelerated toward the corporal. The corporal fired multiple rounds at Hedrick.
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After Hedrick was shot, his vehicle struck the corporal’s patrol vehicle and came to rest. Hedrick died at the scene from the gunshot wounds.
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The Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control assumed responsibility for the investigation rather than allowing the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to investigate its own shooting.
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Hedrick’s identity is important because the original police and news releases left him unnamed. His obituary establishes that Waylon Ray Hedrick, a lifelong Potosi-area man, died on the exact date of the police shooting. He was the father of three sons and was expecting his first grandchild. His family described his interests as motorcycles, antiquing, fishing, mushroom hunting and drawing.
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Additional historical reporting identifies Hedrick as the same Waylon Ray Hedrick who was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in 2009 following the stabbing death of James Kissell in Fredericktown. This history is directly relevant to confirming Hedrick’s identity but does not establish the circumstances or disposition of that old prosecution without the underlying court record.
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The Washington County shooting account presently rests heavily on the sheriff’s description of the final seconds. The publicly located reporting attributes the allegation that Hedrick drove directly toward the corporal to the sheriff’s office; it does not provide independent video or eyewitness evidence establishing the vehicle’s precise movement and the corporal’s position when he fired.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Washington County sheriff’s corporal who pursued and shot Waylon Hedrick has not been publicly identified.
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The officer was described by the sheriff’s office as a corporal and a six-year veteran of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Because the department has not publicly named him, individual prior-shooting, lawsuit, discipline and complaint history cannot reliably be attached to a particular deputy.
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The shooting occurred under Sheriff Dwayne Reed. Missouri’s current state law-enforcement directory confirms Reed as Washington County sheriff and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at 116 W. High Street in Potosi.
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The agency was involved in another fatal use of force after Hedrick’s death in which deputies responded to a disturbance involving a suicidal woman in Springtown. Police said the woman fired toward deputies during a foot pursuit; one deputy returned fire without striking her, and another responding deputy then struck her with a patrol vehicle, killing her. That death was also turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control.
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https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/officer-shoots-kills-suspect-after-pursuit-in-washington-county-missouri/
https://www.kfmo.com/news/washington-county-pursuit-ends-in-fatal-deputy-involved-shooting
https://www.mymonews.com/local-news/washington-county-sheriffs-deputy-involved-in-fatal-shooting
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/waylon-hedrick-obituary?id=59267987
https://dailyjournalonline.com/2009/12/10/hedrick-charged-with-first-degree-murder/
https://www.mymonews.com/local-news/one-dead-following-officer-involved-shooting-in-washington-county
https://data.mo.gov/api/views/pzip-wwk6/rows.pdf?accessType=DOWNLOAD

On 08/19/2025, at approximately 4:04 a.m., Phoenix police officers assigned to the Desert Horizon Precinct responded to an IHOP near 20th Avenue and Northern Avenue after employees reported a man trespassing at the restaurant. While officers were traveling to the call, dispatchers received additional information that the man was cutting himself inside the restaurant while employees and customers were present. The man was later identified as 47-year-old Rocky Joe Ellis.
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Ellis was born on 08/24/1977 and was five days short of his 48th birthday when police killed him. Funeral records identify him as a Phoenix resident.
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According to later reporting based on police records and body-camera footage, a woman at the restaurant told police that Ellis had been inside with a gun earlier in the incident. Police reported that the gun was collected as evidence before officers confronted Ellis outside. The woman told investigators that Ellis subsequently began cutting himself with a hatchet.
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When the first officer arrived, Ellis was outside the restaurant. Police said he was holding a hatchet. Officers ordered Ellis to drop the weapon while backing away from him. Ellis continued walking toward the officers.
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At least three officers eventually confronted Ellis. One officer retrieved a 40mm less-lethal impact launcher from a police vehicle. Body-camera footage shows officers repeatedly ordering Ellis to drop the weapon as he continued approaching. The officer with the less-lethal launcher fired two impact rounds at Ellis, but they did not stop him.
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Officer Jordan Rezac then fired his patrol rifle at Ellis. Later reporting based on the body-camera recording counted at least four rifle shots. Ellis fell to the pavement. The Phoenix Police Department subsequently formally identified Rezac, badge number 10582, as the officer who fired the lethal rounds.
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A witness interviewed immediately after the shooting gave a substantially more critical description of the police response. The witness said officers arrived aggressively with rifles pointed at Ellis and estimated hearing eight to ten shots. The witness said the officers appeared to begin shooting without warning. That account differs from the subsequently released police recordings, which document officers giving commands and deploying less-lethal rounds before Rezac fired.
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The later release of body-camera footage exposed another significant issue that was not apparent from the original news coverage. Rezac did not activate his body-worn camera until after he shot Ellis. Consequently, Rezac's own camera did not capture synchronized audio of his actions and statements leading up to his use of deadly force. Other officers' cameras captured portions of the encounter.
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The recordings also revealed a lengthy delay before officers provided medical treatment. Ellis lay motionless on the ground after Rezac shot him while multiple officers continued pointing weapons at him. Approximately two minutes after the shooting, officers acknowledged that a knife and hatchet were lying near Ellis.
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Officers nevertheless remained back for approximately six minutes. Before approaching Ellis, another officer fired an additional 40mm less-lethal impact round at him while he remained motionless. Officers then moved forward, handcuffed him and began providing medical aid. This six-minute delay was not shown in the Phoenix Police Department's initial edited critical-incident briefing; Phoenix New Times obtained the additional body-camera recording through a public-records request.
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Phoenix Fire Department personnel transported Ellis to a hospital, where he died from his gunshot wounds.
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The Arizona Department of Public Safety Major Incident Division conducted the criminal investigation, marking the first Phoenix Police Department shooting investigated under that arrangement. Phoenix homicide detectives also responded to the scene.
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The criminal investigation was subsequently submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office on 11/24/2025. County Attorney records show that the shooting was reviewed and classified as “Cleared” on 12/18/2025.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Jordan Rezac was the Phoenix police officer who shot and killed Rocky Joe Ellis. Phoenix Police Department records identify Rezac as Officer #10582.
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The strongest officer-specific issue uncovered in the later records concerns Rezac's body camera. Rezac did not activate it until after he fired his rifle at Ellis. This eliminated the audio record from Rezac's own camera during the critical period immediately preceding his use of deadly force.
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The post-shooting response also generated scrutiny. Public-records footage showed Rezac and other officers keeping their weapons trained on Ellis while he remained motionless for approximately six minutes before officers approached and rendered aid. Another officer fired an additional less-lethal impact round at Ellis immediately before officers approached him.
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The full footage became public only after Phoenix New Times made a records request. The Phoenix Police Department's edited critical-incident briefing omitted the approximately six-minute post-shooting period documented by the additional body-camera footage.
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Rezac was removed from patrol following the shooting and had not returned to patrol duty when Phoenix New Times reported on the case in September 2025.

https://www.azfamily.com/2025/08/20/police-identify-hatchet-wielding-suspect-who-died-after-being-shot-by-officer
https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/phoenix-police-involved-in-shooting-near-19th-and-northern-avenues
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/officer-involved-shooting-reported-north-phoenix
https://ktar.com/arizona-news/police-shooting-ihop-phoenix-hatchet/5740286/
https://www.phoenix.gov/content/dam/phoenix/policesite/mediaadvisories/2025/OIS%20UPDATE%202000%20W%20Northern%20Ave.pdf
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/video-phoenix-cops-kill-man-wait-six-minutes-medical-aid-22588494/
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/people-killed-by-phoenix-police-2025-21297528/
https://maricopacountyattorney.org/562/First-Responder-Critical-Incident-Callou
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/abc15/name/rocky-ellis-obituary?id=59280580

On 08/20/2025, six sheriff’s deputies from Bingham and Bonneville counties shot and killed 35-year-old Talon Sessions of Thayne, Wyoming, in a rural area east of Shelley. Later investigation identified every deputy who fired: Bingham County deputies Tyler Moon, Elijah Cawthon and Jared Miller, and Bonneville County deputies Jasen Smith, Kollin Gardner and Cameron Hunt. The six deputies collectively fired 30 rounds.
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The incident began late on 08/19/2025. At 10:59 p.m., Bingham County dispatch received a 911 call reporting two people shooting at one another at a rural property. The caller reported that homeowner Steven Demott had been shot near the knee and that the other armed man remained somewhere in the area.
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According to the subsequent investigation, the confrontation began after Demott encountered Sessions allegedly attempting to take a four-wheeler from the property. Police said Sessions and Demott exchanged gunfire, leaving both men wounded. Sessions then left the immediate property on foot.
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Bingham County deputies responded first and requested assistance from surrounding law-enforcement agencies. Bonneville County sheriff’s deputies and Idaho State Police troopers joined the operation. Police established a perimeter and began searching for Sessions, whom officers had not yet identified but believed was wounded and armed with a handgun.
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Police deployed a drone during the search. The drone located Sessions lying in brush west of the property with a revolver. Deputies then approached him on foot. Body-camera and high-definition drone recordings captured the subsequent confrontation.
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For more than two minutes, deputies repeatedly ordered Sessions to put down the handgun and show his hands. Officers offered him medical assistance and warned that a police dog would be deployed if he did not surrender.
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According to Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley’s later review of the recordings, Sessions eventually raised the revolver toward the approaching deputies. Moon, Cawthon, Miller, Smith, Gardner and Hunt then fired. Investigators determined that the six deputies discharged a combined 30 rounds. Sessions was struck repeatedly.
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Police approached Sessions after the gunfire, secured the revolver and attempted lifesaving measures. Sessions died at the scene.
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Investigators subsequently discovered that Sessions’ revolver was out of ammunition when the deputies shot him. The prosecutor emphasized that the deputies did not know this when Sessions raised the weapon toward them.
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The Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force investigated the shooting, with the Pocatello Police Department serving as lead agency and Sgt. Matthew Shutes as lead investigator. Investigators reviewed 911 recordings, police reports, body-camera recordings and unusually detailed drone footage of the confrontation.
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On 09/10/2025, Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley completed a six-page review of the shooting. Jolley concluded that all six deputies were legally justified in using deadly force against Sessions and declined criminal prosecution. The review expressly addressed criminal justification and did not determine departmental policy compliance or potential civil liability.
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Jolley also characterized the encounter as apparently intentional on Sessions’ part, writing that the evidence suggested Sessions ultimately decided to end his life once confronted by law enforcement. The available evidence establishes, however, that Sessions himself did not leave a known statement explaining his intentions.
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In October 2025, the Bingham and Bonneville County sheriff’s offices released a critical-incident video combining portions of the original 911 calls, deputies’ body-camera recordings and drone footage. The video provides unusually extensive visual documentation of Sessions’ location, the commands given by deputies and his movements immediately before the six deputies fired.
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Sessions was born on 01/28/1990 in Jackson, Wyoming, and lived in Thayne. His obituary identifies him as the father of two children and states that he was engaged to Kiley Taggart. His family held a graveside service at Thayne Cemetery on 08/28/2025.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Bingham County Deputies Tyler Moon, Elijah Cawthon and Jared Miller and Bonneville County Deputies Jasen Smith, Kollin Gardner and Cameron Hunt all fired at Talon Sessions. Their identities were disclosed in the prosecutor’s completed review rather than the initial breaking-news coverage.
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The prosecutor’s report provides unusually precise accountability for the gunfire: six individually identified deputies fired a combined 30 rounds after Sessions raised the revolver toward their position.
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Bingham County Sheriff’s Office had been involved in multiple earlier police shootings. In 2021 alone, Bingham County deputies were involved in at least two shootings that subsequently underwent prosecutorial review. One involved Nathaniel Harper, whom deputies were attempting to arrest on warrants when police alleged he drove a vehicle toward officers; another involved a separate armed confrontation. Prosecutors subsequently found the deputies’ actions justified.
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The department was also involved in a 2023 multi-agency pursuit and fatal shooting after Blackfoot police located a man wanted for alleged eluding, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Blackfoot police, Bingham County deputies and Fort Hall police pursued the vehicle until it crashed near the U.S. 91/I-15 interchange.
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Bingham County, its sheriff’s office and several sheriff’s personnel were named in a separate federal civil-rights lawsuit filed just two days after Sessions’ death. Greggory Collard filed Collard v. Bingham County et al. on 08/22/2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho under 42 U.S.C. §1983. The defendants included Bingham County, the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and multiple named county personnel. The litigation is separate from Sessions’ death and does not name the six shooting deputies identified in this case.

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/08/theft-suspect-dead-following-officer-involved-shooting-in-bingham-county/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/08/man-identified-who-was-shot-and-killed-by-officers-after-reportedly-trying-to-steal-4-wheeler/
https://gephardtdaily.com/local/man-dead-in-aftermath-of-officer-involved-shooting-in-idaho/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/09/taskforce-clears-deputies-in-fatal-shelley-shooting/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/10/prosecutor-clears-deputies-involved-in-deadly-shooting-releases-video-detailing-timeline-of-events/
https://bonnevillesheriff.com/bingham-county-officer-involved-shooting/
https://bonnevillesheriff.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Prosecution-Review.pdf
https://localnews8.com/news/2025/09/12/deputies-cleared-in-shelley-officer-involved-shooting-prosecutor-says-deadly-force-was-justified/
https://localnews8.com/news/2025/10/23/bonneville-county-sheriffs-office-releases-new-bodycam-drone-video-in-shelley-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.schwabmortuary.com/obituaries/talon-sessions-t-sesh
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/idaho/iddce/4%3A2025cv00480/57851

On 08/19/2025, Albuquerque Police Officer Christopher Vaughn shot and killed 53-year-old Lelani “Leilani” Tripp during an acute mental health crisis at Los Altos Lofts, an affordable-housing complex at 10330 Hotel Avenue NE near Eubank Boulevard and Interstate 40. Later reporting and APD’s September release identified both Tripp and Vaughn, who had not been named in the initial breaking-news coverage.
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The police involvement began hours before the shooting. At approximately 2:30 a.m., a neighbor called 911 reporting that Tripp was knocking on apartment doors and telling residents that she had been poisoned. APD later acknowledged that the call was not immediately dispatched because no officers were available. Officers eventually responded but did not locate Tripp.
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At approximately 4:50 a.m., police received another disturbance call at the complex involving people yelling. Officers again responded but did not locate those involved and cleared the scene at approximately 5:46 a.m.
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At 7:53 a.m., police received a third call concerning Tripp. Callers described her as naked, armed with two knives and making suicidal statements, including statements that she wanted police to shoot her. The circumstances therefore clearly identified the encounter as a mental health and suicidal crisis before the fatal confrontation occurred.
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Police already had direct knowledge of Tripp’s recent psychiatric crises. APD Deputy Chief Cecily Barker said officers had transported Tripp to a hospital for mental health treatment the previous Friday and that police knew of at least two recent incidents involving her mental health.
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Apartment staff told responding officers they had managed to take two knives away from Tripp. Police said she subsequently obtained another weapon, described as a butcher knife, and returned to her apartment.
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An officer requested another officer equipped with a 40mm less-lethal launcher. Vaughn also armed himself with a rifle after being told Tripp had a butcher knife. The less-lethal weapon had been requested but was not used before Vaughn fired the fatal shot.
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APD’s later-released lapel-camera footage showed Tripp leaving her apartment and moving toward the officers with a knife in her right hand. Vaughn ordered her to “put it down” three times and then fired a single rifle round into her chest.
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Officers attempted CPR after the shooting. Tripp died from the gunshot wound. The shooting became APD’s 12th police shooting of 2025 and the department’s eighth fatal shooting of the year.
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Tripp’s friends later publicly disputed the necessity of killing her. Amanda Wilder and Beth Yip described Tripp as a trauma survivor who was frightened, in crisis and seeking help. They said she had been asking to be transported to a hospital by ambulance that morning and argued that her behavior required a mental-health response rather than deadly force.
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Wilder and Yip described Tripp as smart, creative, funny and gentle and said she was known to friends as “Nani.” Their account directly challenged the framing of the encounter solely as an armed attack on police and emphasized that officers knew before confronting her that they were dealing with a suicidal woman experiencing a psychiatric emergency.
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The killing also prompted a public protest outside Los Altos Lofts. Demonstrators demanded accountability for Vaughn and argued that police should not have been the fatal endpoint of a call concerning a person experiencing a mental health crisis. Protester Brian McQuwaid publicly called for Vaughn to face criminal charges and disputed that Tripp posed a threat warranting deadly force.
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The shooting attracted additional scrutiny because Tripp was living in a city-supported affordable-housing development. Mayor Tim Keller and other Albuquerque officials had scheduled a news conference at Los Altos Lofts for later that same morning to promote the city’s motel-to-affordable-housing program. The event was canceled after police killed Tripp at the property.
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APD released lapel-camera footage and additional details on 09/12/2025. The Multi-Agency Task Force investigated the shooting.
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The case also occurred amid a striking pattern of Albuquerque police shootings involving behavioral-health calls. When APD released the Tripp footage, Chief Harold Medina acknowledged that each of the department’s five most recent shootings had begun with officers being dispatched to situations involving mental health episodes.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Christopher Vaughn was the Albuquerque police officer who shot and killed Lelani Tripp. Vaughn fired one rifle round into her chest after ordering her three times to put down the knife.
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Vaughn’s use of deadly force occurred before the requested 40mm less-lethal launcher was deployed. APD’s own reconstruction establishes that another officer and a less-lethal weapon had been requested because officers knew they were confronting a suicidal woman with a knife, but Tripp emerged before that alternative could be used.
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Friends of Tripp subsequently singled Vaughn out in their public criticism of the killing. Wilder and Yip argued that he had arrived to a known mental-health crisis and resorted to lethal force against a woman who had been asking for medical help. Protesters later gathered at the shooting location and called for Vaughn to face criminal accountability.
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The broader departmental context is significant. APD was under a federal court-enforced reform process for roughly a decade after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found a pattern of excessive force, including serious concerns about police encounters with people experiencing mental illness. Tripp’s death occurred after the formal settlement agreement ended, but amid continuing controversy over APD’s frequency of fatal encounters involving people in behavioral-health crises.

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-shooting-near-owl-cafe/65820254
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/apd-officers-shoot-woman-wielding-knife-in-northeast-albuquerque/481400
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/apd-releases-details-on-2-deadly-shootings-involving-officers/
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/apd-details-two-fatal-police-shootings-within-the-same-month/575582
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerque-metro/protesters-demand-accountability-after-deadly-apd-shooting-last-month/
https://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/opinion-police-didnt-need-to-kill-our-friend/379595
https://abqraw.com/post/update-women-shot-by-police-was-resident-at-city-affordable-housing/
https://abqraw.com/?p=20210

On 08/19/2025, Idaho Falls Police Sgt. Gabe Klepich and Officer Dustin Cook shot and killed 46-year-old Derrand Zimmerman at an apartment complex at 105 Clubhouse Circle. Early reporting gave conflicting ages, including 39, but later reporting and the completed investigation identify Zimmerman as 46.
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At approximately 10:10 p.m., a woman called 911 and reported that Zimmerman, a friend who had been staying with her family, was intoxicated, acting erratically, armed with a handgun and making suicidal statements. She specifically told dispatch that Zimmerman had talked about “suicide by cop.” She also alleged that he had pointed the gun at her and himself earlier and had pulled the trigger while holding it against his head, but the gun had not fired.
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The woman told police she had asked Zimmerman to leave because of his behavior. She said Zimmerman left the apartment with the handgun and might be walking to a nearby Maverik store to obtain beer. Three children were inside the apartment with the caller.
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While officers searched the area, Zimmerman returned to the apartment complex shortly after 10:30 p.m. The caller reported that he was pounding on her door and attempting to get inside. Dispatchers instructed the woman and children to remain inside and shelter away from the door.
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Officers located Zimmerman outside the second-floor apartment and attempted to persuade him to come down the stairs. Police knew before confronting him that they were dealing with an armed person experiencing a suicidal crisis.
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At approximately 10:50 p.m., Klepich attempted to use his police dog to apprehend Zimmerman. The dog initially did not go up the stairs. Klepich sent the dog a second time; it went upstairs but did not bite or otherwise apprehend Zimmerman. Klepich then recalled the dog.
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Police video subsequently released by the department shows Zimmerman holding a handgun in his right hand. The prosecutor's reconstruction states that Zimmerman made threatening statements while officers remained at the bottom of the stairs. Klepich ordered him to face away from police and keep his hands up.
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Zimmerman then raised the handgun and fired one round toward the officers. Investigators recovered a .40-caliber casing and handgun from Zimmerman's position and located the fired bullet after it struck the apartment building siding and ricocheted.
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Klepich and Cook immediately returned fire. Klepich fired his 9mm handgun three times. Cook fired his .223-caliber patrol rifle four times. Zimmerman was struck multiple times and collapsed at the top of the stairs.
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Two other officers at the scene were carrying 40mm less-lethal launchers. Those weapons were not deployed before Klepich and Cook opened fire. Police later said the exchange occurred too rapidly for officers to use the less-lethal weapons once Zimmerman fired.
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Officers moved upstairs, secured Zimmerman's handgun and called for emergency medical personnel. Idaho Falls Fire EMS arrived at approximately 10:53 p.m., treated Zimmerman and transported him to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he died.
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The autopsy documented three apparent police gunshot wounds: a 9mm wound to Zimmerman's right thigh and .223-caliber wounds to his right chest and right forearm/elbow. Investigators recovered three 9mm casings and four .223 casings from the officers' position, corresponding with the seven rounds fired by Klepich and Cook.
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The Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force conducted the outside investigation, with the Rexburg Police Department serving as lead agency. Idaho State Police handled principal crime-scene documentation, the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office performed scene reconstruction, and investigators from several other regional agencies participated.
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Idaho Falls police released an edited video package containing the 911 call and portions of body-camera footage on 09/05/2025. The department stated that complete, unedited body-camera recordings were also available through public-records requests.
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Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal completed his criminal review in September 2025. Neal reviewed the task-force investigation, video, physical evidence and officer and witness interviews and concluded that Klepich and Cook were legally justified in shooting Zimmerman. No criminal charges were filed against either officer.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Gabe Klepich and Dustin Cook were the two Idaho Falls officers who fired at Zimmerman. Klepich fired three handgun rounds and Cook fired four rifle rounds.
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This was not Dustin Cook's first police shooting. On 11/27/2022, Cook responded to a welfare check involving 63-year-old Kevin Boyd Chambers, who reportedly had made suicidal statements at the Eagles Lodge in Idaho Falls. During that encounter, police said Chambers displayed a knife. Cook shot and wounded Chambers. The Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Response Team investigated, and Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal subsequently declined to prosecute Cook, finding the shooting legally justified as self-defense.
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Cook also has a significant federal civil-rights case in his history. In Irvine v. Cook, Tony Irvine sued Cook after a July 2020 encounter in a Walmart parking lot. Cook chased Irvine, who was riding away on a bicycle, and forcibly knocked him from the bicycle. Irvine alleged serious injuries and sued Cook for unlawful seizure and excessive force.
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In January 2023, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled against Cook on Irvine's individual Fourth Amendment claims. The court found that Cook lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Irvine, that forcibly knocking him from the bicycle constituted an unlawful arrest, and that Cook used excessive force. The judge further held that Cook was not entitled to qualified immunity because the constitutional violations were clearly established.
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The federal court specifically found that Irvine was unarmed, was moving away from the altercation Cook had been dispatched to investigate, and posed no immediate threat. The court concluded that no force was necessary or justified under those circumstances. The City of Idaho Falls later obtained summary judgment on the separate municipal-liability claim, but that did not undo the earlier ruling concerning Cook's individual conduct.
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Gabe Klepich has also subsequently been named as a defendant in federal civil-rights litigation. On 07/22/2026, Mike Nava Puente filed Puente v. Picard et al. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, naming Klepich along with Ryan Picard, Shayden Nagle and other defendants. The case was filed as a federal civil-rights action and remains recent litigation.

https://localnews8.com/news/2025/08/20/police-shooting-in-idaho-falls-after-armed-man-reportedly-fires-at-officers/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/08/man-killed-by-police-after-exchange-of-gunfire-in-idaho-falls/
https://www.kmvt.com/2025/08/21/police-fatally-shoot-man-reported-acting-erratically-idaho-falls/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/08/police-identify-idaho-falls-man-killed-in-tuesday-shootout/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/09/911-call-and-bodycam-footage-released-from-officer-involved-shooting-that-killed-46-year-old/
https://localnews8.com/news/idaho-falls/2025/09/05/police-release-bodycam-footage-of-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/09/bonneville-prosecutor-finds-killing-of-46-year-old-man-by-police-to-be-justified/
https://www.bonnevillecountyidaho.gov/prosecuting-attorney-archive/criminal-liability-review-of-circumstances-related-to-the-eastern-idaho-critical-incident-task-force-investigation-of-officer-involved-shooting-august-19-2025
https://localnews8.com/news/crime-tracker/2023/01/06/names-of-officer-and-individual-from-officer-involved-shooting-at-eagles-lodge-released/
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2023/02/prosecutor-says-officer-involved-shooting-was-self-defense-releases-report-detailing-incident/
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/idaho/iddce/4%3A2022cv00218/50159/25/
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/idaho/iddce/4%3A2022cv00218/50159/45/
https://dockets.justia.com/browse/state-idaho/court-iddce/noscat-5/nos-440

On 08/18/2025, 35-year-old Jeramy Dawayne Denton was shot and killed by Johnson County sheriff’s deputies after they responded to a disturbance call in an unincorporated area near Joshua. The initial news coverage did not identify him, but later records establish Denton as the person killed.
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Denton was born on 05/20/1990 and lived in Joshua. His obituary confirms that he died on 08/18/2025, the date of the police shooting. He was the father of four daughters and had a fiancée.
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The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched early Monday morning for a reported disturbance. The department has released very little information explaining the nature of that disturbance or what callers reported before deputies arrived.
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According to the sheriff’s office, deputies encountered Denton armed with a knife and attempted to speak with him. Police have not publicly provided a detailed reconstruction of the interaction, including the distance between Denton and the deputies, whether Denton allegedly advanced toward anyone, what commands were given, whether less-lethal weapons were available or attempted, or precisely what caused deputies to open fire.
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Multiple Johnson County deputies fired at Denton. He was initially reported dead at the scene, while subsequent reporting stated that he was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead there. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office was responsible for the autopsy and identification.
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The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office did not investigate its own deputies’ shooting. The scene and criminal investigation were turned over to the Texas Rangers.
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Denton’s obituary provides considerably more information about him than the police releases. His family described him as warm, generous and quick-witted and emphasized his devotion to his four daughters, parents, siblings, extended family and fiancée. His family planned to honor his request for cremation and eventually take his ashes to the Texas coast.
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The shooting occurred against the backdrop of a serious corruption and misconduct investigation involving the leadership of the same sheriff’s office. Just nine days after deputies killed Denton, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King was arrested following a Texas Rangers investigation. A grand jury indicted King on allegations involving official oppression/sexual harassment and retaliation against a witness.
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The allegations involved King's treatment of female sheriff’s-office employees and retaliation connected with employees reporting alleged misconduct. The investigation also involved then-Chief Deputy James Saulter, who had cooperated with investigators. King was accused of retaliating against Saulter after Saulter reported sexual-harassment allegations involving the sheriff.
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The case against King continued well beyond the initial arrest. He was subsequently accused of aggravated perjury in connection with his grand-jury testimony. His criminal retaliation trial reached a jury in July 2026 but ended in a mistrial, leaving the prosecution unresolved rather than producing an acquittal.
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The sheriff’s office was also the subject of federal civil-rights litigation filed shortly after Denton’s death. In Steinhilber v. Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, filed 08/25/2025, plaintiff William Steinhilber named the sheriff’s department, Sheriff Adam King, James Saulter, Mark Reinhardt, David Blankenship and Bryan Gordy as defendants in a 42 U.S.C. §1983 prisoner civil-rights action.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Multiple Johnson County sheriff’s deputies shot Jeramy Denton. Their identities have not been publicly disclosed in the material located for this update.
The shooting deputies therefore cannot yet be individually checked against prior shootings, force complaints, disciplinary records or civil-rights litigation. The agency itself, however, was entering an extraordinary leadership crisis at essentially the same time as Denton’s killing. Sheriff Adam King was arrested nine days later after a Texas Rangers investigation into alleged sexual harassment and retaliation within the sheriff’s office.
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King’s prosecution later expanded to include an aggravated-perjury allegation concerning testimony before the grand jury. His July 2026 retaliation trial ended in a mistrial.
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The sheriff’s office was also named in several federal civil-rights cases filed during the months following Denton’s death. Steinhilber v. Johnson County Sheriff’s Department named King and several sheriff’s-office personnel, while Brownlee v. Johnson County Sheriff’s Department separately asserted prisoner civil-rights claims against the department.

https://www.fox4news.com/news/man-armed-knife-shot-killed-johnson-county-deputies
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article311751363.html
https://obituaries.cleburnetimesreview.com/obituary/jeramy-denton-1093048038
https://www.fox4news.com/news/johnson-county-sheriff-arrested-felony-charges
https://www.fox4news.com/news/jury-deliberations-resume-criminal-retaliation-trial-johnson-county-sheriff-adam-king
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txndce/3%3A2025cv02307/408645
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txndce/3%3A2025cv02321/408675