Video shows Danville officer shoot homeless Black man

DANVILLE — A video recorded by a bystander shows the fatal shooting last month by a Danville police officer of a homeless Black man who had been staying near a public parking lot used by carpoolers.

The video taken by a witness to the March 11 shooting of Tyrell Wilson, 32, by Danville Police Officer Andrew Hall was obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle Monday.

It shows the two men facing one another in the San Francisco Bay Area community, standing feet apart. Hall appears to move toward Wilson, as Wilson appears to step backward. Hall points his gun at Wilson, who is facing him and then Hall shoots once, the video shows. Wilson collapses on his back and Hall stands over him.

Danville police said Hall had responded after dispatchers received reports of a person throwing rocks from an overpass onto Highway 680. When Hall arrived, he saw Wilson standing in the street, police have said. The police released still photographs that show Wilson holding the bag in his left hand and a folding knife in his right hand.

They said that Hall gave commands for Wilson to drop the knife and that Wilson advanced toward Hall, prompting Hall to shoot.

The video does not show Wilson make any sudden moves toward the officer.

Wilson died on March 17 at a local hospital. Civil rights attorney John Burris, who represents Wilson’s family, said that after seeing the body, he concluded that Hall had shot Wilson in the face.

“The video and witness accounts show this was a cold murder. Wilson never had a chance," Burris said in a statement.

The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office, which contracts to provide police services in Danville, is working with District Attorney Diana Becton to investigate the shooting.

Hall is on paid administrative leave and has requested a new assignment outside of Danville, which is pending, his attorney Michael Rains said.

Rains said the video “tells nothing about what occurred there,” because it is shaky and shot from an odd angle, and because a road sign obscures the critical movements that preceded the shooting.