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Ronnie Andrew Garcia

Age : 43

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 09/25/2021

Location : Huntington City Beach south of Huntington Beach Pier near Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street

City : Huntington Beach

County : Orange

State : California

Agency : Huntington Beach Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during response to report of armed man on beach

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/25/2021, Huntington Beach police shot and killed 43-year-old Ronnie Andrew Garcia on Huntington City Beach just south of the pier while large crowds were in the area for the U.S. Open of Surfing.
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At approximately 3:15 p.m., Huntington Beach police received reports of a “suspicious man with a gun” on the beach. Officers responded and encountered Garcia on the sand near Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.
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Police said officers gave Garcia multiple commands and alleged that he did not comply. Officers then opened fire. Garcia was transported to a hospital, where he died. Police reported recovering a handgun at the scene.
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The initial police account was strikingly incomplete about the critical moment preceding the gunfire. Huntington Beach police did not publicly explain what Garcia was doing immediately before officers shot him, whether he pointed the reported firearm at anyone, whether he reached for it, whether he threatened an officer or civilian, or what specific action caused officers to open fire. Contemporary Los Angeles Times reporting specifically noted that police had not explained what Garcia did when he allegedly failed to comply or what prompted the shooting.
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Multiple civilians witnessed the shooting because it occurred on a crowded beach during one of Huntington Beach's largest annual events. Cellphone video captured portions of the encounter and the gunfire. Witnesses described hearing multiple shots and seeing crowds run from the area. The city subsequently offered counseling and emotional-support services to people who witnessed the killing.
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The Orange County Sheriff's Department handled the investigation into the Huntington Beach police shooting. Because police reported recovering a firearm from Garcia, the case did not fall within California's statutory program requiring the state Department of Justice to independently investigate police killings of unarmed civilians.
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Garcia's family later filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Huntington Beach. On September 21, 2023, Guadalupe Leticia Garcia, Ronnie Andrew Garcia II, Donna Maria Garcia and Jose Jorge Garcia filed Garcia et al. v. City of Huntington Beach et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case asserted a federal question arising from Garcia's death and demanded a jury trial.
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The existence of that lawsuit is especially important given how little Huntington Beach police publicly disclosed about the shooting itself. The department's original explanation effectively moved from the report of a man with a gun, to alleged noncompliance with unspecified commands, directly to fatal police gunfire without publicly identifying the conduct officers claimed created an immediate threat requiring deadly force.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Huntington Beach police officer or officers who shot Garcia have not been publicly identified in the readily accessible reporting and records located for this update. Contemporary accounts alternately referred to an officer or multiple officers firing, but the department did not publicly provide the shooters' names in those reports.
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The department itself was dealing with several serious officer-misconduct cases during the same year Garcia was killed. In March 2021, Huntington Beach Officer Steven Tennant was criminally charged with two counts of internet impersonation after prosecutors alleged he created online personal advertisements using another Huntington Beach officer's photograph and private cellphone number. The targeted officer had begun dating Tennant's former girlfriend. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer publicly characterized the alleged conduct as disturbing behavior by a sworn police officer that could have endangered another officer.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/09/26/man-fatally-shot-by-huntington-beach-police-identified/
https://abc7.com/huntington-beach-police-shooting-pacific-coast-highway/11044943/
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/huntington-beach-police-shooting-pch/2702006/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-25/huntington-beach-police-shoot-suspect-on-the-beach-as-u-s-open-of-surfing-underway-nearby
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/witnesses-describe-chaotic-scene-as-fatal-officer-involved-shooting-unfolds-near-u-s-open-of-surfing/
https://abc7.com/huntington-beach-police-shooting-officer-involved-department/11052490/
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2021-09-27/huntington-beach-offering-mental-health-services-in-aftermath-of-officer-involved-shooting
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/8%3A2023cv01771/899515
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-22/huntington-beach-police-officer-charged-with-impersonating-another-officer
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/former-huntington-beach-police-investigator-charged-with-stealing-drugs-from-attempted-murder-suspects-vehicle/