District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis Tuesday released surveillance video of a fatal police shooting of a homeless mentally ill man in the Midway District.
Dumanis said she decided to make portions of the video public since neither the city of San Diego nor Mayor Kevin Faulconer planned to appeal a ruling by U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes that the footage could be released.
The judge’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the family of 42-year-old Fridoon Nehad, who was shot by Officer Neal Browder after midnight on April 30. Browder was responding to a call about a man threatening people with a knife.
Nehad was shot as he advanced on the officer, twirling a shiny object that turned out to be a metallic pen, authorities said.
Browder fired one shot just 32 seconds after pulling up to the scene. Nehad was 17 feet from the officer when he was shot. The officer said later that he thought Nehad was going to stab him, according to Dumanis.
Everyone who came into contact with Nehad that night — including people inside a bookstore, a bouncer at a nearby strip club and three witnesses — thought he had a knife, according to the county’s top prosecutor.
Dumanis also released body-worn camera video evidence, video from additional surveillance cameras, enhanced surveillance video used in the investigation, still frames from video and a transcript of the dispatcher- officer communication before, during and after the shooting.
“We’re doing this to help put the (surveillance) video that was the subject of the protective order — and only one piece of evidence — into perspective with other relevant information,” Dumanis told reporters.
The video footage in question came from a security camera from a nearby business and was confiscated by police as part of the investigation.
Last month, the District Attorney’s Office ruled the shooting was legal.
Attorneys for the Nehad family got the video when they sued, but had to agree not to release it.
A coalition of media organizations went to court to ask the judge to lift the protective order.
Dumanis said she is working with a group of law enforcement officials — including Sheriff Bill Gore, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman — to determine how officer-involved shooting videos can be released in the future.