State, Feds Investigate Sean Monterrosa Shooting: Vallejo Police

VALLEJO, CA — The Vallejo Police Department said Friday it is grateful the California attorney general is stepping in to conduct a full investigation into the alleged destruction of evidence into the June 2 fatal officer-involved shooting of Sean Monterrosa.

An officer shot Monterrosa, 22, while he was kneeling outside a Walgreens store that had been vandalized, authorities said. The case has garnered national and international outrage, which heightened last week when Vallejo city officials said they discovered the windshield through which Monterrosa was shot was destroyed and the police car it belonged to was back on the street.

According to a statement from the Vallejo city manager's office, neither the police chief nor the city attorney was consulted in the removal and destruction of the windshield.

In addition to asking the Solano County district attorney, the California attorney general and the FBI to conduct a criminal investigation of the shooting itself, the city is now asking that destruction of evidence be included.

"I am deeply disappointed with the turn of events that led to the windshield not being preserved,” Vallejo police Chief Shawny Williams said in a statement released Friday.

"It is a priority for our department to conduct a thorough investigation and provide the transparency that our community expects and deserves," Williams said. "It is our hope that the State Attorney General’s Office can provide clarity in this investigation."

OIR Group, which provides independent police oversight, will also conduct a separate administrative investigation into what happened, Vallejo Police Department spokeswoman Brittany Jackson said Friday.

Williams has placed two employees on leave while the investigation is pending, Jackson said.

Civil rights attorney John Burris, who represents about 20 people with claims against the Vallejo Police Department, has said that "Vallejo police officers' standard operating procedure is to alter or destroy evidence."

In a statement Friday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the "allegations concerning destruction of evidence under the watch of the Vallejo Police Department are significant."

"For public trust to exist, each and every part of our criminal justice system must operate in cohesion and there’s little room for error," Becerra said. "That's why we’ve accepted Chief Williams' request to take a look at what happened with the evidence and relay our findings to the District Attorney’s Office for review. The bottom line is that law enforcement across the country are rightly coming under the microscope and they have to get these things right if there’s going to be a chance to rebuild trust. Make no mistake: we're going to be thorough — and that includes in our separate review into the Vallejo Police Department’s policies and practices. Our communities, particularly Black Americans and people of color during this time of social upheaval, deserve to know that we are listening and doing our part to take action."

Becerra said the investigation into the Monterrosa shooting is separate from DOJ’s ongoing review of the VPD’s policies and practices.

"As part of that agreement, DOJ is working with a team of its own police practices experts to develop best practices specifically for VPD and will independently evaluate their implementation efforts," Becerra said.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.