OAKLAND, CA – Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California, released a report this week on the death of Darnell Travis, who died by the gun of a law enforcement officer in Fontana, CA, in the summer of 2022.
The AG report details the incident, finding no substantial evidence after an investigation that criminal charges should be filed against the officer, who killed an unarmed man.
Bonta said in the DOJ statement that he hoped the report supplied the necessary insights community members sought, stressing the DOJ’s commitment working in partnership with law enforcement agencies to ensure a legal system “equitable, fair, and accessible to all.”
According to the DOJ, the Fontana Police Department Rapid Response Team surveilled suspected individuals they believed were involved in illegal firearm sales. And, on June 21, 2022, the suspects fled, said FPD, alleging they struck FPD vehicles and disobeyed police orders.
When FPD officers successfully pulled open Travis’s door, the officer shot Travis as he tried to flee, said FPD, because the officer believed Travis bore a firearm.
However, after chasing the vehicle for 22 miles, the officers found no firearms in Travis’s seat, according to the DOJ, finding only Travis’s two cell phones.
AB 1506 requires the DOJ to investigate all shootings where an officer killed an unarmed civilian in California, according to the DOJ, but the DOJ said it did not find sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that proved the shooting officer acted with malicious intent.
DOJ’s statement reported the evidence showed no indication that the officer did not act in self-defense with reasonable evidence to believe he was in imminent risk of great bodily injuries or death, providing insufficient evidence for prosecution.
However, the investigation led the DOJ to provide three legislative recommendations in accordance to Travis’s death, including FPD producing written guidelines with clear intentions, outcomes, and enforcement details authorizing underground surveillance operations.
FPD also, said DOJ, must train their officers with frequent refreshers about use of force, making sure to always identify themselves as a law enforcement officer through physical appearances or verbal confirmation, clearly articulating any intent to use deadly force, and third, FPD must provide a written policy for situations involving high-risk felonies in its policy manual.
