(KRON) — Tommy Wilson Jr. was released from the hospital this week after he was shot in the back by Martinez police officers.
Tommy was informed that he is not facing any charges in connection to the August 19 police shooting because he did not commit a crime, according to his attorney with Pointer and Buelna law firm.
Tommy and his brother, Tahmon Wilson, were unarmed when they tried to flee from police, civil rights attorney Adanté Pointer said. Tahmon was fatally shot by officers. Their blue sedan crashed into a fire hydrant.
Martinez police said officers opened fire on the two men around 3:30 a.m. on August 19 after officers responded to a security alarm at a cannabis store, Velvet, on Sunrise Drive. Police described the incident as an attempted burglary, and said one officer was assaulted.
According to the attorney, the brothers were driving away from the store when four officers shot Tahmon in the back of his head, and shot Tommy twice in his back.
On Friday, Martinez Police Chief Andrew White identified the four officers as: Cole Bennett, Marc Kahue, Raul Ceja-Mendez, and Alexander Tirona. So far, the Martinez Police Department has not disclosed why officers used lethal force.
“Tahmon Wilson and Tommy Wilson Jr. … were wrongfully shot by Martinez police officers on August 19. We are moved today to refute the incomplete and misleading accounts provided by the police regarding this horrific incident,” Pointer wrote.
Pointer is demanding that the Martinez Police Department immediately, and publicly, release officers’ body-worn camera videos.
“There is no reasonable or lawful explanation for the lethal force employed by the four officers involved. State law prohibits using deadly force against a fleeing vehicle that does not pose an immediate threat,” Pointer wrote.
The Wilson brothers’ sister, Jaleace Smith, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she spoke to Tommy when he was still the hospital. “People need to know that my brothers did not try to rob a cannabis place, and (then) got shot by police,” Smith told the Chronicle.
Police Chief White said all of the officers involved were wearing body-worn camera. His police department will release the videos within 45 days, White said.
Pointer said the videos should be released now to provide more information for grieving family members looking for answers. He added, “The public has a right to see for themselves the circumstances surrounding this senseless loss of life. Releasing these videos is imperative for the sake of transparency, justice, and enhancing public trust in the police.”
The Department of Justice, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1506, is conducting an independent investigation into the level of force used by each of the four officers. The Martinez Police Department also initiated a separate administrative investigation.
Police Chief White wrote, “These investigations will both take time, but it is critical they are able to accomplish their respective tasks carefully, comprehensively and independently, based on facts and the evidence.”
