Today California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) review of the shooting death of Sean Monterrosa cleared Detective Jarett Tonn of any criminal wrongdoing. Detective Tonn appreciates the careful and thorough review of this incident conducted by Attorney General Bonta, which confirmed that Detective Tonn’s use of force was objectively reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. All human life is sacred and this incident was tragic for everyone involved.
The investigation found that substantial evidence supported Tonn’s claim of self-defense, and that none of the evidence, including video footage, or witness accounts “contradict[ed] the essential facts of Tonn’s account.” Report determined that the witness statements and the “video footage provide a largely uncontroverted account of the events” which is sufficient to establish self-defense even without Tonn’s testimony.
The Report explained the objective reasonableness of Tonn’s belief that deadly force was necessary. “California law requires consideration of all of the circumstances as they were known or appeared to Tonn. It is undisputed that six seconds prior to the shooting, Horton radioed the warning: ‘It looks like they’re armed, possibly armed.’ Horton’s words were qualified in nature, but Tonn, Wagoner, and Pittman all stated that they took this warning to mean that the subjects at the Walgreens were carrying firearms. … [A] warning from an experienced senior officer that appeared to be based on personal observation would be taken very seriously by Tonn.”
The Report noted the totality of the circumstances supported Tonn’s belief that the suspect was armed with a firearm. “First, the hammer that Monterrosa carried in his pocket would have had the same effect on his gait and body mechanics as he ran that carrying a firearm would. The hammer was 14.5 inches long, and the hammer head was 6 inches wide.” Tonn and other witnesses observed Monterrosa run in a manner that indicated he was holding something he did not want it to fall out of his waist band.
“Second, all of the witnesses who actually saw the shooting stated that Monterrosa was running away from the officers, suddenly stopped, and made a quick turn to face the officers’ truck immediately before the shooting.” “[A]ll stated that Monterrosa had one of his hands in his torso or waist area when the shots were fired.” In fact, a civilian witness stated that Monterrosa was fully facing Tonn at the time shots were fired. No witnesses contradicted this testimony.
The Report also noted that Tonn’s decision to shoot from inside the vehicle corroborated his belief that he had to “shoot now or someone gets shot.” This is because doing so is inherently dangerous for the officers in the vehicle.
The report explained the importance of an officers’ state of mind:
“Tonn’s knowledge and state of mind going into the incident must also be considered. In his statement, he discussed the facts that made him particularly concerned about encountering armed subjects on June 1, 2020. He was aware of reports of looters targeting gun stores in the days before June 1, 2020. He was aware of multiple firearms-related calls on June 1, 2020. In particular, 911 calls had been made that evening regarding armed looters. He also was aware of intelligence reports warning of violence directed at law enforcement and that a law enforcement officer had been shot and killed several days earlier in a drive-by shooting in a nearby county.”
The DOJ’s expert “opined that the use of the deadly force against the ‘unarmed, but perceived to be armed and dangerous, Sean Monterrosa was consistent with generally accepted policing best practices and VPD’s Use of Force Policy.’” The DOJ’s expert “concluded that Detective Tonn’s actions, during the time when he believed that Mr. Monterrosa was armed and posed an immediate threat to him and others, ‘were reasonable, necessary and proportional to any imminent threat he may have perceived and comported with law enforcement training with respect to using deadly force.’”
Noting that an officers’ conduct cannot be considered with the benefit of hindsight and taking into account that officers are often forced to make quick judgments, the Report stated Tonn’s tactics in the moments preceding the shooting were objectively reasonable.
The Attorney General concluded, “[b]ased on the totality of circumstances, a reasonable officer could have believed that Monterrosa was armed and reaching for a firearm.” These findings affirm prior determinations that Tonn acted lawfully in self-defense and defense of others.
Detective Tonn was represented by Joshua Olander from Mastagni Holstedt, APC.
The full Report on the Investigation issued by the DOJ today can be found here.
