VALLEJO (KRON) – Vallejo Police released 911 audio and body camera footage of an incident involving a trespassing suspect who was wielding a knife in January.
Police received the 911 call around 8:30 a.m. from a church on the 400 block of Nebraska Street who reported that a homeless man was breaking into a shed.
After investigating, Officers Hollis and Hendrix spotted 49-year-old Edward Gonzales and attempted to stop him.
Body camera footage showed Gonzales jumping a fence and continue to walk away, wielding a knife, despite repeated commands from the officers to stop, and an attempt to use a taser.
After catching up with Gonzales, Hendrix has this exchange.
“Drop it right now,” Hendrix said.
F— you,” Gonzales replied.
“You’re about to get shot,” Hendrix said.
“Shoot me,” Gonzales replied
Gonzales then faced the officer and took three steps toward him when Officer Hendrix fired four shots, dropping Gonzalez after the last shot.
Gonzales attempted to get up and didn’t discard of the knife until about 30 seconds after the shots were fired. After five minutes, a delay caused by a locked fence, medics administered first aid to Gonzalez who was taken to North Bay Hospital and survived his injuries.
Gonzales was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, brandishing a deadly weapon to resist or prevent arrest, resisting arrest and trespassing.
The video was released more than eight months after the shooting.
A recently enacted state law requires that police body camera footage be released within 45 days.
