Video shows Richmond detective breaking into his own vehicle after fatally shooting man

HERCULES — A video circulated on social media shows new details from a fatal police shooting that shut down Interstate 80 for hours on Thursday.

The video, which has been posted on Instagram and TikTok and viewed thousands of times, shows a man either dead or dying from gunshot wounds as the Richmond detective uses a blunt object to smash in the driver’s side of his own vehicle and open the door, after apparently locking himself out. He drops the object next to the man on the ground as the roughly 15-second video ends.

Neither the detective nor the man killed have been publicly identified. Authorities said on Thursday the man had stopped his car on the freeway and that the detective stopped behind him to help, while on his morning commute. Around 7:20 a.m., the man allegedly tried to open the detective’s passenger door and then charged at him with a scissor jack, prompting the detective to shoot.

The object the detective uses to smash in the window appears similar to a scissor jack. Authorities haven’t confirmed whether it is the same object the man allegedly brandished.

The California Attorney General’s office is investigating the incident under a statute that requires it to look into cases where a police officer kills an unarmed person. That will add this fatality to an ever-growing backlog of nearly 60 police killings, dating back to 2022, that are still under investigation by the agency.

The video shows the man’s car positioned between the diamond lane and adjacent lane on westbound I-80, near the Pinole Valley Road exit in Hercules. It shows the detective’s car, lights activated, positioned behind to the left. The man is lying between the detective’s car and the concrete barrier for eastbound traffic. The cameraman appears to be another motorist making his or her way over to get around the obstruction.

The California Highway Patrol shut down all westbound lanes of I-80 before the Richmond Parkway exit shortly after 7:30 a.m., backing traffic up into Vallejo. Authorities later closed a lane on eastbound I-80 and diverted traffic off the freeway at the Willow Avenue exit in Hercules. Helicopters circled the area as the investigation continued.

Around 5:10 p.m., the CHP announced all lanes of westbound lanes had reopened.

Staff writer Rick Hurd contributed reporting

The video can be seen by following this link. It is graphic.