Only one of four deputies had body cam on during the fatal exchange
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has released video from the fatal shooting of a 35-year-old man who, according to the investigation, fired at least once at the deputies trying to detain him near Blue Lake on July 26.
Eureka resident Jared Randell Nelson, who the office says had an outstanding warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm, was also a suspect in an armed home invasion on Larson Heights Road that had taken place earlier that day in the Glendale area.
After an initial search for him came up short, deputies returned to the area when a property owner called around 7 p.m. to report Nelson was in their backyard. Four deputies responded.
According to the sheriff’s office, Nelson was shot multiple times while hiding in dense brush after deputies tried to contact him on Glendale Drive. He was pronounced dead at 8:58 p.m. in a nearby hospital.
The critical incident video, required to be released under state law, includes Sheriff William Honsal running through the time line of events leading up to and following the fatal exchange, brief excerpts of two 911 calls and about 10 seconds of body cam footage but no audio from one of the four deputies present as the shooting occurred.
According to Honsal, the other three “did not activate their body cameras until after the shooting.”
In Honsal’s narration, the deputies surrounded the hedge-like foliage that Nelson ran into and “began issuing verbal commands to come and show his hands. Nelson did not respond and refused to exit.”
One deputy, identified by Honsal as Deputy Jonathan Eckert, then began entering the bush and “was about 2 feet away from Nelson” when the suspect “discharged a weapon at Deputy Eckert and the round passed over his head,” the sheriff said.
“Deputies then returned fire in defense of their lives,” Honsal said in the video.
The body cam footage starts as Eckert is approaching the brush and shows another deputy with a gun drawn, then the video just shows the ground before suddenly, after about 10 seconds, the two officers are moving backward and firing their weapons.
According to Honsal, Ecker, an 11-year veteran of the force, fired 18 rounds. Deputy Cole Kane, with 16 years of experience, fired five rounds and Deputy Russell Hurley, with nine years, fired seven rounds.
When Nelson did not respond following the shots, the deputies called in for ballistic shields and additional resources in order to approach his location, the sheriff said.
While it’s not clear how much time had passed, the video shows another set of body cam footage at the scene with the group marching in formation behind a deputy carrying a shield, as one says, “Let’s roll.”
Someone calls out, “Less lethal, less lethal, less lethal” and two beanbag rounds are shot toward Nelson’s believed location. A person calls out “no movement” and another says “negative” and a third says, ‘All right, we are going to move up. I will cuff.”
The two minutes of video also shows the group moving through the brush and appearing to climb over brush before they locate and cuff Nelson and move back out to a clear pullout on the side of the road. One says they’ve found a gun and a medical kit is called for before one of the deputies begins CPR.
According to Honsal, a .45 caliber handgun and holster were found on Nelson.
The shooting is being investigated by the multi-agency Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team, with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office taking the lead.
“A separate administrative review will determine whether or not deputies actions were within policy and the training standards,” Honsal said.
The video can be found here.