Solano DA provides additional context on fatal freeway shooting
A press release offered new details, but no new information, on last month's CHP-involved shooting that left one man dead.
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office provided additional details on an officer-involved shooting that left one man dead late last month.
On Friday, the DA’s Office formally 29-year-old Karl Walker of Sacramento as the person who died in the late-night encounter involving at least one California Highway Patrol officer.
As first reported by Solano NewsNet, Walker was shot about a half-hour after the CHP received reports from eyewitnesses of a solo vehicle crash along the west-bound lanes of Interstate 80 parallel to O’Day Road and near the Midway Road off-ramp. Life-saving measures were performed, and a medical crew was dispatched, but Walker died from his injuries on the scene.
His name was first released by a Sacramento-based activist group who said Walker was shot after his girlfriend’s vehicle ran out of gas on the freeway. It left out other details revealed by the DA’s office, including eyewitness reports that said the man crashed the vehicle and appeared to be under the influence. Those accounts were backed by CHP dispatch logs reviewed by Solano NewsNet prior to the shooting.
The DA’s office later went on to accuse Walker of pulling a loaded firearm on officers who responded to the scene. On Friday, they provided additional information about the police encounter, including direct quotes attributed to Walker.
“Walker displayed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol and appeared evasive with the officers keeping his hand in his sweatpants,” a spokesperson for the DA’s Office wrote. “Eventually the officers asked Walker to show his hands for his safety and theirs. Walker said, I’m not going to do that, [and he] pulled out a loaded 9-millimeter handgun.”
The DA’s Office said officers “repeatedly gave [Walker] commands to drop the gun, but Walker refused.” He allegedly pointed the gun at officers, and that’s when they opened fire.
The agency said it provided additional context on Friday “due to the significant public interest in this incident” and “to ensure the public receives accurate information.” A spokesperson for the office has not yet returned an e-mail from Solano NewsNet asking for specifics on how it obtained and verified the details of what was published in its press release.
The Solano County Major Crimes Task Force, a newly-formed committee designed to review officer-involved shootings and other high-profile incidents, is investigating the matter.
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