Nevada County officials detail timeline of events in officer-involved shooting in Grass Valley

The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victim in Wednesday’s fatal officer-involved shooting in Grass Valley.

Gabriel Strickland, 25, of Grass Valley was shot and killed by two sheriff’s deputies and a police officer who responded to reports of a man armed with a shotgun in the residential area near the corner of Oak Street and Walker Drive.

“First and foremost I would like to express my deepest condolences to this young man’s family,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon said in a prepared statement. “The loss of his life is tragic, deepened only in our office that it was due to a rapidly evolving incident with the law enforcement units on scene.”

At 12:46 p.m., Nevada County dispatchers received 911 calls reporting an armed man walking down Squirrel Creek Road near Adam Avenue, Moon said.

Law enforcement arrived minutes later and found Strickland standing in the roadway on Oak Street armed with what appeared to be a shotgun and refusing to drop the weapon, Moon said.

For six minutes, deputies asked Strickland to drop the gun, but he refused, at which point they moved toward him to take him into custody, Moon said.

Deputies deployed Tasers, but they were ineffective, Moon said, and Strickland raised his gun, prompting officers to open fire. After Strickland went down, Moon said, deputies attempted life-saving measures.

Man had airsoft gun, wanted suicide by cop

Authorities later discovered the gun was an airsoft rifle, according to the Union newspaper in Grass Valley.

“The weapon he was holding was a black Airsoft rifle,” Nevada County Assistant District Attorney Chris Walsh told the Union. “It appears that there used to be an orange tip on the muzzle of the rifle that was broken off prior to the shooting that made it appear more realistic.”

Strickland was taken to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Jon Seeley, a resident who lives near the scene, told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday he heard Strickland telling police, “You don’t care. You don’t know what I’ve been through” during the standoff.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that Strickland was known to law enforcement and made “suicide by cop” statements during previous contacts.

Grass Valley Police Chief Alex Gammelgard said in a prepared statement the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office will provide an independent review of the officer-involved shooting.

Video footage will be released when it becomes available, Gammelgard said. The officers — deputy Brandon Tripp, deputy Taylor King and Officer Brian Hooper — have been placed on administrative leave, he said.

Strickland in jail before incident

According to the Union, Strickland had been out of custody less than 48 hours after a Dec. 27 incident reportedly involving a concealed handgun at a laundromat on Freeman Lane.

Grass Valley Sgt. Jason Perry told the paper at the time that a officers had responded to a report of a man harassing customers and were told that Strickland had been making “suicide by cop” statements. When confronted, Strickland allegedly began fighting officers before being handcuffed, the Union reported.

Police said Strickland was in possession of drug paraphernalia, a .22-caliber handgun and ammunition. He was arraigned on charges of possessing a loaded firearm while under the influence, being a felon in possession of a firearm Dec. 30 and granted pre-trial release, according to the Union.

An autopsy and toxicology tests will be conducted, Walsh said, as the investigation by the District Attorney’s Office continues.

This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 8:05 PM.