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At a press conference Monday, Richmond Police Chief Bisa French said 27-year-old Angel Magallan Montaño was fatally shot by officers last week after he advanced rapidly toward them while holding knives in both hands.
French read from a prepared statement describing the officer-involved shooting on August 4 that killed Montaño after family members called 911 asking for assistance and saying he was "armed and wanted to kill people."
"As officers approached the front door, which was already slightly ajar, they began announcing their presence, and within seconds the armed subject advanced from the doorway with a knife in each of his hands. Despite repeated commands to stop the individual continued toward the officers, and at that time an officer-involved shooting occured," French said.
Officers attempted to render medical aid, but Montaño succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The officers who discharged their weapons will remain on administrative leave during the investigative process per Richmond Police Department policy.
Richmond police fatally shoot armed man outside home, investigation underway
Richmond police officers fatally shot a man Monday evening who they say confronted them with at least one knife outside a home where he had allegedly been threatening to kill people, authorities said. Officers responded just after 5 p.m. to a 911 call reporting an armed individual inside a
Soren Hemmila
Richmond police have made the dispatch recordings and body camera footage of the shooting available on their website.
French said the family had been trying for more than a year to get Montaño help, and she addressed the ongoing need for mental health services in Richmond.
“As a society, we continue to talk about mental health, we continue to talk about alternative responses, but we still leave it up to mentally ill individuals to make decisions that they’re clearly not capable of making, and something has to change," French said. "I don’t have the answers to what can be done differently. But I do hope that there will be some conversation around legislation and laws to get the people that actually need some mental health assistance the help that they need, so that we do not end up in these types of situations again.”
Councilmember Soheila Bana, who attended the press conference, said that it underscored the importance of mental health and its connection to public safety.
“Transparency is the foundation of accountability, and I appreciate Chief French’s openness in sharing the full facts with the public while we await the County’s official investigation. This press conference underscored for me how deeply mental health is tied to public safety, and I intend to write to our State Senator Jesse Arreguin, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, about it,” Bana said.
The incident is being investigated by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office under the county’s Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Protocol.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by the family.
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