SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento County District’s Attorney Office, under the guidance of Anne Marie Schubert, released a report clearing three Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies of shooting Mikel Laney McIntyre 28 times in Rancho Cordova on May 8, 2017. The D.A. said the deputies’ actions were “lawful.”
Betty Williams, the President of the Sacramento NAACP Branch, said she “totally disagree(s)” with the findings of the District Attorney’s independent review of the shooting.
“Upon their investigation, they found it was a justified shooting, based upon the law; and the policies written on behalf of law enforcement, which created a high bar, that helped created this result,” Ms. Williams said in a written letter released about 20 minutes before the D.A.’s office officially disclosed its findings Tuesday. “I told them that we totally disagree with their findings and … more than disappointed of their results.”
The deputies in question are Jeffrey Wright, Ken Becker and Gabriel Rodriguez. The D.A.’s office received and reviewed dispatch audio, witness interview recordings, 911 recordings, dash camera, and surveillance recordings, photographs, California High Patrol reports, and coroners report among others to arrive at its conclusion.
The county’s Inspector General Rick Braziel released a report reviewing the shooting, stating that the deputies used “excessive” force against McIntyre, 32, before he was killed. The Black man was hit seven times by the deputies.
One of the deputies was hit in the heading with a rock by McIntyre, Braziel said. But Braziel, Sacramento Police Chief, reported that the number of shots was not necessary and it put the public at risk.
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones was publicly enraged over Braziel’s version of the events and proceeded to bar him from records and the use of the facility.
“How could Inspector General, Rick Brazil (have) such a difference of opinion,” Ms. Williams wrote. “Although he tried to explain, it made no sense to me.”
McIntyre’s mother initially called for medical assistance because she felt her son was going through a mental breakdown but did not want him harmed when she called the authorities.
She and her son had gone shopping that day at Ross Dress for Less store near Olson Drive and Zinfandel Drive. The D.A.’s report says that McIntyre became frustrated when his mother took the car keys from him, which soon turned into a “physical altercation.” Rodriguez was the first deputy to make contact with McIntyre after he responded to the call.
McIntyre was later shot near Highway 50 after the deputies were in pursuit of him fleeing them. The report says that McIntyre threw a rock and hit Wright in the back of the head. Wright was able to draw his weapon and shot at McIntyre, but the man broke away running toward the highway.
The report says that Rodriguez fired 18 rounds at McIntyre while Becker released eight rounds. McIntyre was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The family has filed a civil lawsuit against the County Sheriff’s Department and the City Rancho Cordova.
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By Antonio R. Harvey
OBSERVER Staff Writer