As information continues to trickle out regarding the June 5 fatal shooting of a 29-year-old Simi Valley man by a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy, a picture is emerging of the man who allegedly rushed a deputy with a knife having been in prolonged medical distress.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a report of a man who’d entered the Bear River Recreation Center with a bandaged, bloody arm “actively dripping blood throughout the facility,” and arrived to find Nicholas David Anderson uncooperative and refusing medical care.
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, who told the Journal he had limited information as the two deputies involved in the incident had not been officially interviewed by investigators as of June 9, said Anderson first reportedly arrived at Bear River Casino after walking away from St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka that morning, against doctors’ advice.
Honsal said his understanding is that Anderson was contacted by casino security and told them he wanted to take a shower, so was directed to the recreation center. After Anderson showered there, staff became alarmed and summoned law enforcement and emergency medical personnel, wanting to get him medical treatment for what Honsal said has been described as “a very large open wound” on Anderson’s arm that left muscles, veins and ligaments visible.
A sheriff’s office press release says investigators were able to use license plate recognition camera data to determine a vehicle associated with Anderson arrived in Humboldt County from Simi Valley on June 3. The release further says that after arriving here, “it appears” Anderson used an alias to receive medical treatment at a local facility for “a previously existing injury.”
The Fortuna Police Department’s service call logs indicate its officers responded to a reported disturbance at Redwood Memorial Hospital at 10:15 p.m. on June 4, after an employee there reported an assault victim in the emergency room was “refusing medical care for large open wound on wrist.” The log states the victim advised the injury was from an assault that occurred in Oregon.
Honsal said he doesn’t know the specifics of what happened at Redwood Memorial Hospital but understands Anderson was ultimately admitted and transferred or referred to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment. Then, the morning of the shooting, Honsal said it’s believed he “walked away” from the hospital.
Calls placed to the Fortuna Police Department for details about what happened at Redwood Memorial were not immediately returned.
At the Bear River Recreation Center, Honsal said Anderson’s wound was evaluated by emergency medical technicians and paramedics, who advised he needed emergency treatment.
“He refused treatment and walked away,” Honsal said, adding that Anderson then got in his car and drove away. At no point, Honsal said, had Anderson been hostile to the deputies on scene.
The shooting reportedly happened a short time later, when Anderson returned to the scene and confronted deputies near the recreation center, charging one “with a knife in a threatening manner,” prompting one of the deputies to open fire and shoot him in the chest, according to the press release.
Honsal declined to discuss the details of the fatal altercation itself, but said it was captured on both deputies’ body-worn cameras and witnessed by numerous bystanders.
The sheriff said it remains unclear how, when or where Anderson sustained the injury to his arm, or why he repeatedly refused to have it medically treated. He said an autopsy would be performed and the involved deputies would be interviewed in the coming days, after which his department would be prepared to release more information.
Honsal said the situation is a sad one, tragic for Anderson and his family, and “life-altering” for the deputies involved.
“I just think this is kind of a sign and a signal of where we are with mental health treatment within the county and the state,” he said. “Despite the fact that we de-escalated and had other individuals on scene trying to assist this individual, he did not want assistance. And ultimately, he made decisions that cost him his life. It’s just a sad case.”
This article appears in Humboldt Crabs Baseball.