Man armed with knife shot and killed after lunging at Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies
Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man armed with a knife at a home late Monday in Vineyard, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded after firefighters were called to a home on the 9300 block of Wild Lilac Circle about 11 p.m. for a man causing a disturbance inside the home. Deputies arrived at 11:12 p.m. to find the man standing in the doorway of the home and holding a knife, according to dispatch audio reviewed by The Sacramento Bee. Dispatchers had told responding deputies that the man “may be combative (and) hallucinating.”
When deputies arrived, “the subject’s mother exited from the front door and told deputies that the subject was inside the residence with a kitchen knife,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. After the mother left the home, the 38-year-old man came to the doorway holding the knife.
“As one deputy attempted to speak to the subject and de-escalate the situation by trying to convince him to drop the knife, the second deputy went back to his vehicle to retrieve a less lethal shotgun,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said that as the deputy returned with the less-than-lethal weapon, the man then advanced on deputies. The returning deputy fired “at least two less lethal shotgun rounds” at the man. Gandhi said that had no effect on the man.
“The subject continued to advance with the knife for approximately 60 feet, when Deputy 1 lost his footing and fell to the ground,” the Sheriff’s Office said. From the ground, the deputy fired “several rounds” from his service weapon, striking the man.
Gandhi said the man — who was known to law enforcement, was on parole and had a history of mental health issues — was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before midnight. No officers were injured in the encounter, Gandhi said.
As with other officer-involved shootings, the deputy who fired the fatal shot was placed on administrative leave as an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office’s professional standards division takes place. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office will conduct its own review of the shooting, which is standard practice.
In the coming days, the Sheriff’s Office is expected to release a community briefing video that will include body camera footage and other information, in compliance with state law.
The incident was the fifth shooting by Sacramento deputies in 2024.
In November, deputies shot and killed a man who fled from authorities and fired upon them from a Carmichael home’s rooftop.
In March, the Sheriff’s Office was involved in three separate shootings.
On March 5, deputies had fired upon a fleeing 18-year-old armed suspect, striking him twice at a south Sacramento strip mall. The teen, identified as Marquise Chapple, survived.
Two weeks later, on March 15, deputies exchanged gunfire during an hourslong standoff with a man who may have been suffering from a mental health crisis at Fair Oaks apartment complex. The man, Eric Oneal Smith, was later arrested and remains in custody at the Main Jail awaiting trial in his felony attempted murder case.
Days later, on March 23, deputies shot and killed a Rio Linda man who approached deputies with a knife during a call similar to Monday’s incident. Like the Vineyard incident, deputies had used less-than-lethal means before employing their guns on the man, identified as Christopher Gilmore. Gilmore’s family, who had called 911 because the man was experiencing a mental health crisis, filed suit against the county over the incident.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 9:00 AM.
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