California police officer who shot and killed unarmed kneeling man will not face charges

California’s attorney general will not pursue charges against a police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Vallejo Police Department officer Jarrett Tonn killed 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa in June 2020 after he responded to reports of suspects stealing from a Walgreens store. At the time of Moterrosa’s shooting, civil unrest swept across the country following George Floyd’s killing just a week earlier in Minneapolis.

Mr Tonn fired a rifle five times through the windshield of his patrol pickup, hitting Monterrosa once in the head as he kneeled. In the aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement claimed that they initially thought Monterrosa was carrying a handgun in his waistband.

A hammer was later found in the pocket of a sweatshirt Monterrosa was wearing.

On Tuesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement saying that a DoJ investigation found there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Tonn was not acting in defence of himself or his fellow officers when he fired the shot that killed Monterrosa.

“Sean Monterrosa’s life mattered and there is nothing that can make up for his death. His loss is and will continue to be felt by his family and the Bay Area community,” Mr Bonta said.

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Monterrosa’s sister Michelle told The Associated Press that she had found the decision not to charge Mr Tonn frustrating.

“It’s just really disappointing that we see people put their political careers ahead of actually doing what they need to do to bring justice to our loved ones,” she said.

Mr Tonn opened fire from the backseat of a moving vehicle that carried two other officers. The windshield of the patrol pickup truck, considered a key piece of evidence in the case, was destroyed, leading city officials to seek a criminal investigation into how that happened.

Mr Bonta, who took the case in 2021 after Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams recused herself, claimed that the officers who replaced the windshield were not involved in the shooting and did not act with criminal intent.

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Mr Tonn was fired by the police department last year after an independent third-party investigation determined he violated several department policies, including using deadly force that was not objectively reasonable, failing to de-escalate the situation, and failing to activate his body-worn camera in a timely manner.

However, he was reinstated earlier this year after appealing the decision, KCRA reports.

In recent years, the Vallejo Police Department has come under repeated criticism. In 2019, a 20-year-old man was killed after he fell asleep with a gun in his lap in his car at a Taco Bell drive-thru and six Vallejo officers fired 55 shots.

The month after Monterrosa’s killing, then-Police Chief Shawny Williams started an independent investigation after two people in the department said officers had their badges bent to mark on-duty killings.