Sacramento County deputies kill suicidal man wielding a knife (multiple POVs)

Original videos:

Rio Linda, California, United States

March 23, 2024

Body camera footage released on Tuesday shows the moments that led to a Sacramento County deputy shooting and killing a man in Rio Linda earlier this year.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office released a narrated video that included dispatch calls and the body camera footage from the deputies who responded to reports of a man cutting himself with a knife at a home on March 23.

The Facebook video begins with a 911 call from the family of 38-year-old Christopher Gilmore, who told dispatchers he had cut himself in a bathtub, attempted self-harm in the past and suffered from schizophrenia.

Multiple deputies arrived at a residence on Campanile Street around 8:15 a.m., according to the sheriff's office.

The video shows them spending the majority of their time strategizing how to enter the home safely because they did not know exactly where he was and were told he was armed with a knife.

At the same time, the deputies were also talking with family members of Gilmore who had evacuated the home. They asked the family about his mental state and whether he had talked about wanting to die that day.

After nearly 20 minutes passed, the garage door opened unexpectedly and Gilmore was inside. In the video, the deputies can be heard commenting on Gimore's loss of blood and appearing to be incoherent.

Gilmore eventually began walking down the driveway with an object still in his hand as deputies tried to communicate with him. He mostly ignored them. His family was also trying to speak to him.

Deputies fired six non-lethal rounds at Gilmore and three rounds from a handgun. According to the sheriff's office, the knife Gilmore was holding was six inches long with a three-and-a-half-inch blade. Gilmore died at the scene, the sheriff's office said.

The deputy that shot him with lethal rounds has been with the sheriff's office since 2019, the sheriff's office said. He was put on administrative leave pending the investigation, in accordance with procedures.

The sheriff's office is still investigating the shooting but the family of Gimore has also launched their own investigation.

“He died right in front of me,” Bobbie Gilmore, Chris' sister told KCRA 3 in March. “They could have hit him with a Taser gun.”

The family released home surveillance video footage in April. They claimed then that Gilmore was holding a small disposable razor and not a knife. An attorney representing the family told KCRA 3 on Tuesday now admits Gilmore was holding a knife but upholds that he was not threatening anyone.

https://www.kcra.com/article/rio-linda-bodycam-sacramento-deputy-shooting/60724701