Update – Hemet, California – Thursday, July 4, 2024, at about 1:40 am, Hemet Police Officers responded to a call from one of our local bars in the downtown district of Hemet. The reporting party had informed dispatch that an intoxicated male subject had left the bar with a gun in his pants. Officers arrived in the area and located the male subject in the 200 block of East Florida Avenue. A confrontation ensued, leading to an officer-involved shooting. The subject was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The Hemet Police Department is aware of allegations that the subject in this officer-involved shooting was unarmed at the time of the incident and or he was compliant with his hands up. This is not the case. The subject involved in this incident was armed with what, from all appearances, was a gun (photograph attached). Only upon analysis by investigating authorities after the incident, was it determined that the gun was an airsoft pistol, not technically a firearm. There was no way for officers to know that at the time they encountered the decedent, however. Additionally, surveillance footage from area businesses, along with body-worn camera video from officers, show that the subject had this pistol before the shooting and pointed it toward officers (photographs attached). A critical incident video related to this event will be released soon. We are committed to transparency and will provide all relevant information to the public as it becomes available.
As in the case of every officer-involved shooting in the City of Hemet, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Force Investigation Detail and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office were contacted to conduct this investigation. Because the subject was armed with an airsoft gun, the California Department of Justice was notified to assume the investigation based on California state law. The Hemet Police Department has and will continue to fully cooperate with all involved law enforcement agencies during this investigation. This is an active and ongoing investigation; anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the California Department of Justice at 1-800-952-5225 or Investigator Daniel Cortez at 951-765-2433.
If you have information about this case, you can reach us by telephone or through the new Hemet PD smartphone app, which is available for free via the Apple App Store for iOS devices and Google Play for Android users. Anonymous tips are always accepted.
