Breaking News: Video Footage of Officer-Involved Shooting at Velvet Cannabis Released by Martinez Police

Content made public Thursday night includes body camera footage from officers, security camera footage from dispensary, police radio traffic, and dispatch calls to police reporting attempted burglary

Highly anticipated video footage was released by the Martinez police chief Wednesday night documenting the Aug. 18 officer-involved shooting at the Velvet Cannabis dispensary on Sunrise Drive that claimed the life of a 20-year-old Oakland man.

The videos included footage, some of it graphic, from three of the four Martinez police officers involved in the fatal shooting; police Chief Andrew White said in a news release accompanying the videos that one of the four officers’ body cameras was not activated until approximately five minutes after the shooting and therefore not included.

Gunfire is seen coming from an officer as the Infiniti flees the scene.

Police also released videos from Velvet’s security cameras showing the actions of the burglary suspects before police arrived, as well as audio of the dispatch calls reporting the suspected burglary and radio traffic from the officers who responded. All of the content can be reviewed at this link: https://www.cityofmartinez.org/Home/Components/News/News/220/15

The security videos from the dispensary show several suspects arriving in in a blue Infiniti and white Toyota C-HR, reportedly around 3:27 a.m. They are seen milling outside the dispensary for several minutes, some holding trash bags, and at one point the C-HR appears to be backing up toward the entrance of the dispensary.

Suspects holding trash bags outside the dispensary before police arrive.

The suspects are seen outside the Toyota C-HR and Infiniti shortly before police arrive on the scene. The C-HR quickly disappears down an embankment when police arrive, but the Infiniti is initially blocked by a police vehicle as it tries to exit the parking lot.

When police arrive, the suspects jump back into their vehicles and attempt to flee. The white C-HR quickly escapes down an embankment, but the Infiniti circles the parking lot and briefly appears blocked by a police vehicle. In body cam footage, officers can be seen standing next to the driver’s side of the vehicle with their guns pointed at it, before the car briefly backs up to get around the police car, then speeds off. The Infiniti appears to scrape an officer’s outstretched hand or gun as it speeds away.

An officer points his gun at the blue Infiniti shortly before it speeds off.

Shots are fired from the rear (in one video frame, two officers appear to be firing the same gun), and the Infiniti crashes into a fire hydrant. In audio of police radio traffic that was also released Wednesday, an officer can be heard saying, “seven to eight shots fired, 245 attempt on an officer.”

Officers approach the Infiniti after it has crashed into a fire hydrant.

Police also released new details about the vehicles involved in the incident, explaining that they were both reported as stolen, as well as the presence of a firearm in the Infiniti.

The blue Infiniti involved in this incident had been reported stolen from the City of Livermore on August 12, 2023.  A loaded Glock 10mm handgun was located in the front passenger’s area of the vehicle.  That gun was purchased in the state of Arizona on January 20, 2023, and is linked to a shooting that occurred on April 27, 2023, in Oakland, Ca.  

The white Toyota C-HR was also a reported stolen vehicle and recovered in Oakland after fleeing from Velvet. The vehicle was originally taken after a victim was reportedly robbed at knife point and the keys to the car taken. A third vehicle involved, that had also been reported stolen, was abandoned on Sunrise Drive. 

In a video statement accompanying Wednesday’s video release, Mayor Brianne Zorn said that Chief White arranged for a private viewing of the footage with the family of the shooting victim, Tahmon Wilson, before it was made public.

“Regardless of how someone interprets what they are seeing, watching this footage comes with the tragic realization that a young man has lost his life and a family is grieving,” she said in the statement.

The California Department of Justice has launched an independent investigation into the fatal shooting, in compliance with recently adopted state legislation governing how officer-involved shootings are handled. An outside firm is conducting a separate administrative investigation initiated by Martinez police into the officers’ actions.

“The footage is just one component of many that are being evaluated to determine exactly what happened, the lawfulness of the officers’ actions, and compliance with police department policies and procedures,” Zorn said. “Unfortunately, we do not know how much longer these separate investigations will take to complete. But we trust that both processes will be fair, thorough and independent.”

Martinez police and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office are also investigating “collateral” crimes that may have been committed at the dispensary and led to the police response.

“These investigations will take time, but it is critical they are able to accomplish their respective tasks carefully, comprehensively, and independently, based on facts and the evidence,” White said.

The four officers, all of whom reportedly discharged their firearms, have been on administrative leave since the shooting.

There were apparently no security officers on site at the dispensary when the incident occurred, a violation of the city’s cannabis dispensary ordinance, which requires 24/7 on-site security. Despite the requirement being clearly spelled out in the ordinance, both of the city’s dispensaries were apparently exempted from it by the police department’s then-leadership when their security plans were approved upon opening the businesses, according to an email explanation I received from City Manager Michael Chandler.

Police Chief Andrew White said at a recent City Council meeting that he and Chandler met with Velvet officials and asked that 24/7 security be implemented in the wake of this incident, which the dispensary agreed to. The same request was to be made of the Embarc dispensary on Alhambra Avenue.

I wrote about the issues surrounding the lack of enforcement of the cannabis ordinance provision for 24/7 on-site security in this post.

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