Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Kevin Victor Johnson
Age : 22
Gender : Male
Race : White
Date : 08/25/2021
Location : Auto Mall Parkway and Southlake Common
City : Fremont
County : Alameda
State : California
Agency : Fremont Police Department
Officer(s) :Jesse Hartman
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police during shooting incident
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 08/25/2021, at approximately 5:19 p.m., Fremont Police Department officers responded to the Southlake Mobile Home Park in the 43800 block of Fremont Boulevard after a 911 caller reported that a man had been shot in the head. The wounded man was transported to a trauma center with life-threatening injuries. Investigators developed a description of the alleged shooter, later identified as 22-year-old Kevin Victor Johnston of Hayward.
Police searched the surrounding area for approximately 40 minutes. Fremont Police Officer Jesse Hartman, a nine-year department veteran, located Johnston near Auto Mall Parkway and Southlake Common, just outside the mobile-home park. Hartman's body-worn camera recorded the encounter.
Johnston was pushing a baby stroller when Hartman approached him. According to Fremont Police, Hartman identified himself as a police officer. Johnston dropped the stroller and picked up a white T-shirt from the stroller. Police said a handgun was concealed within or underneath the shirt. Johnston then raised his arms toward Hartman in what police described as a shooting stance.
Hartman opened fire, striking Johnston. Johnston died from the police gunfire. Police recovered a privately manufactured handgun, commonly described as a ghost gun, from the scene. Acting Police Chief Sean Washington later said investigators believed Johnston had fired a round toward Hartman during the confrontation.
Fremont Police initially withheld Hartman's identity while investigators reviewed body-camera footage, physical evidence and witness information. When the department released its critical-incident video and additional evidence in September 2021, it publicly identified Jesse Hartman as the officer who killed Johnston.
The released critical-incident material included Hartman's body-camera footage, surveillance recordings and audio from the original 911 call. The footage showed the encounter between Hartman and Johnston and provided substantially more information than police disclosed immediately after the shooting.
Acting Chief Sean Washington publicly announced that the department considered Hartman's shooting justified, stating that he believed Hartman acted within both California law and Fremont Police Department policy.
The Fremont Police Department continues to maintain Johnston's case in its public officer-involved-shooting archive. The department's archive confirms the 08/25/2021 Auto Mall Parkway/Southlake Common incident and provides links to the later investigative updates and critical-incident video.
A search for additional publicly indexed records on Jesse Hartman did not establish another fatal police shooting involving him that could be reliably documented. The available material identifies him as a nine-year Fremont Police Department veteran at the time he killed Johnston.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/fremont-police-release-identity-of-suspect-officer-in-shooting/2642902/
https://patch.com/california/fremont/fremont-ois-audio-911-call-led-fatal-officer-involved-shooting-kevin-johnson
https://abc7news.com/fremont-shooting-today-police-auto-mall-parkway-in/10975990/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YSEddldfFc
https://www.fremontpolice.gov/about-us/transparency-portal/officer-involved-shootings
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/video-911-audio-fremont-police-fatal-shooting-kevin-johnston/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/fremont-fatal-police-shooting-officer-involved/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/videos-released-in-deadly-shooting-by-fremont-police
https://abc7news.com/fremont-shooting-police-body-cam-footage-fatal/11024802/
