Santa Cruz Co. Sheriff Releases Video Of Deputy Shooting

APTOS, CA — A video released Wednesday of a recent sheriff's deputy-involved shooting in Aptos showed a Soquel man walking toward the deputy and repeatedly asking the deputy to shoot him as he reached inside his jacket.

Discretion advised: This post includes details that may be disturbing to some readers.

Deputy Calum Cecil-Wherity shot Eli Burry, 40, after Burry traded fire with deputies on the night of April 6, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office previously said. Burry was injured and remains in the hospital; he is expected to be medically cleared soon. At that time, he will be booked into Santa Cruz County Jail, said sheriff’s office spokesperson Ashley Keehn.

A passenger in Burry's car was not injured.

The Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office is still investigating the matter to determine whether any laws were broken. The sheriff's office is also conducting an internal investigation to determine whether any policies or procedures were violated.

Deputies were first called to the shopping center at 7960 Soquel Drive after receiving a report of a suspicious car, Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner Jim Hart said in a video update Wednesday afternoon. The area has received 20 calls for service in recent months related to trespassing, drug activity, suspicious activity and other issues, Hart said.

Three deputies approached the car, which was registered to Burry. He had previous interactions with law enforcement and had posted bail in a pending case involving an arrest in which officials seized 13 guns and methamphetamine, Hart said.

Video showed that two responding deputies — Cecil-Wherity and Joshua McKim — peered inside the tinted windows of Burry's car with their flashlights and repeatedly asked Burry and his passenger to open their doors. Eventually, they complied.

McKim asked Burry to get out of his car and attempted to handcuff Burry because of Burry's previous weapons charge, officials said. McKim successfully handcuffed Burry's left hand, but Burry resisted the deputy's attempt to handcuff his free right hand, according to the video.

Meanwhile, Cecil-Wherity spotted an apparent weapon in between the front seats of the car, below the area where McKim's hand was hovering, the video showed.

"You're making me really nervous," McKim can be heard saying on the video.

"If you reach for that, I will shoot you," Cecil-Wherity said on the video.

Burry repeatedly asked deputies to shoot him, according to the video. McKim's body camera is briefly obstructed but showed that Burry picked up what appeared to be a handgun.

Deputies later learned it was a flare gun loaded with a shotgun shell — a weapon that can cause injury and damage equivalent to a firearm, Keehn said. The flare gun's bright orange paint had apparently been obscured by black tape, photos released by the sheriff's office showed.

McKim used a stun gun on Burry, according to the video. It's unclear what immediately followed. The deputies backed off and retreated behind the car's closed doors. Cecil-Wherity directed the passenger to get on the ground, the video showed.

That's when Burry appeared to fire the flare gun in an unknown direction, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies repeatedly ask Burry to show his hands and get on the ground. He continued to ask that the deputies shoot him and advanced toward deputies while reaching inside his jacket, the sheriff's office said.

Cecil-Wherity fired several rounds at Burry, who fell to the ground, according to the video. He apologized to the deputies and said that he wanted to die, according to the video.

"We don't want to kill you, dude," a deputy can be heard saying on the video.

Deputies treated Burry until paramedics arrived, the sheriff's office said.

Additional weapons and drug paraphernalia were found in Burry's car, the sheriff's office said.

The investigation remains in the early stages, Hart said.

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Discretion advised: This video contains images and language that may be disturbing to some readers.