Jury rules man shot by four San Pablo officers died of suicide; police testify his BB gun looked like a firearm

MARTINEZ — At a Friday coroner’s inquest, a jury ruled that a man shot and killed by four San Pablo officers died of suicide, after hearing testimony about police interviews with people who said the victim contemplated self-harm.

Sergio Escalera-Valdez, 45, of San Pablo, was killed by San Pablo Officers Monica Louis, Javier Rios, Shaun Swaleh, and Waseemah Ali, who fired a total of seven shots. A forensic pathologist testified Escalera-Valdez suffered one fatal gunshot wound.

The jury voted 8-1 in favor of a suicide ruling.

Escalera-Valdez was shot and killed on the 1300 block of Market Avenue in North Richmond, last Dec. 15.

Officer body camera video of the incident shows Escalera-Valdez exiting a red Toyota pickup truck holding what turned out to be a BB gun. Ali — the only officer who fired to testify at the inquest — said she believed it to be a real firearm, and a police detective quoted an interview with another officer who said he believed the Escalera-Valdez was about to open fire.

“In Ofc. Swaleh’s words, he believed Sergio was preparing for a gunfight with police,” San Pablo police Det. Joshua Hearn testified Friday.

Hearn testified that police interviewed members of Escalera-Valdez’s family who told them he had ongoing issues with depression and had given a necklace to a family member earlier that day. A clerk at a San Pablo store where Escalera-Valdez had been seen holding the BB gun later told investigators that he spoke with Escalera-Valdez, who talked of suicide and offered the man $20 as a “good omen.”

The clerk told Escalera-Valdez to pray and tried to dissuade him from harming himself, Hearn testified, adding that Escalera-Valdez allegedly replied, “I’m not going to kill myself, I’m going to let the police do it.”

Coroner’s inquest hearings are held in Contra Costa County whenever a person is killed by police or dies in law enforcement custody. Juries are asked to choose a manner of death from four choices: homicide, suicide, accidental, or natural causes.