FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Fresno Police respond after lawyers release body cam video, that allegedly shows two deadly officer-involved-shootings.
Both men were shot after they pulled out what police thought were weapons.
Humberto Guizar, an attorney from Guizar, Henderson & Carrazco released the videos.
Raymond Angel Gonzalez was shot and killed by Officer Zebulon Price on March 23, 2016 during a police chase.
Undercover officers had been watching two suspicious men near a liquor store on Blackstone and Yale.
When questioned, the two took off running, 34 year-old Gonzalez threw a backpack to the ground, which contained a pieces of an AR-15 weapon.
It was the first time that video of Gonzalez was made public.
WARNING – LANGUAGE AND CONTENT OF THE FOLLOWING VIDEO MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Gonzalez had been high on meth when the shooting too place.
Half a year earlier, on Sept. 3, 2015, Zeb Price, the same police officer, shot 40 year-old Freddy Centano, a man with a history of mental illness and drug abuse.
The weapon he was holding later turned out to be a black water hose nozzle.
Police say they had received a call from a woman on Orange and El Monte in Southeast Fresno. She told dispatch that a man describing himself as a federal agent arrived at her door with what looked like a gun, asking for drugs. she refused and he left.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer responded Wednesday to the release of the video.
“The Federal courts have deemed that the actions of the officer are reasonable, said Chief Dyer. “That’s on the heels of the Internal Affairs investigators deeming that that shooting was within policy, as well as the District attorney’s office, who has deemed that the actions of the officers were reasonable under the law as well.”
The Southern California lawyers appeared in court on Tuesday.
Their public relations representative sent out the following press release on Tuesday:
“On the Centeno case, the 9th circuit threw out the civil rights action based on qualified immunity. We are trying to keep the State claims for negligence and Battery alive, which is why we were in court (on Feb. 19). As for the Gonzalez case we filed the appeal before the 9th circuit on Tuesday. Instead of disciplining Price for the shooting of Centeno he was promoted by the Fresno PD. This is a gross injustice to both families. The family wants justice and will be joined by their Attorney Humberto Guizar after court as they continue to push toward justice in the killing of their loved one.” – Shane Harris, GHC Public Relations Rep.
Dyer confirmed that Officer Price had been promoted to a Sergeant.
When asked why there was a short time frame between the two shootings by the same officer, Chief Dyer said that Sgt. Price had been working with the anti-gang task force MAGEC, and was assigned to an area in where shootings were very common.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
