Chico police officer and private security cleared in fatal shooting
Chico CA Sept 30 2017 The Chico police officer and private security guard who fatally shot a Ventura man suspected of breaking into a downtown business were found to have acted in reasonable self-defense, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced Thursday.
Ramsey said the officer, Chico police Sgt. Scott Ruppel, and the still unnamed security guard for Armed Guard Private Protection did not act unreasonably when they shot Tyler Rushing, 34, the night of July 23 at an escrow company at East Sixth and Main streets in Chico.
Rushing is accused of stabbing the security guard and two Chico police officers during the episode, video of which was captured by multiple body cameras and released by the District Attorney’s Office.
“In fact, the evidence reviewed weighed substantially toward supporting the security guard’s belief in the necessity of self-defense as reasonable,” Ramsey said in an investigation report. “Additionally, Sgt. Ruppel’s belief in the necessity of defense for not only himself but also for the other involved officers was not unreasonable. Therefore no criminal case could be brought against either man.”
Rushing is the second man killed in encounters with Chico police so far this year. On March 17, Chico police officers fatally shot Desmond Phillips, 25, of Chico at his father’s apartment in the 700 block of West Fourth Avenue.
Ramsey cleared officers of criminal liability in that case as well.
During a news conference Thursday, Ramsey presented the findings of an investigation conducted by the Butte County Officer Involved Shooting/Critical Incident Protocol Team.
The district attorney also walked through a sequenced video of body camera footage that shows Rushing’s confrontations with the guard and officers at Mid Valley Title and Escrow Company, 601 Main St.
Ramsey noted in an investigation report that Rushing ran a window-cleaning business in Ventura and had his own apartment. He also volunteered at music festivals throughout the state.
Investigators spoke to Rushing’s family and friends in the Ventura area who described him as a “gentle soul whose favorite acronym was ‘PLP,’ which stood for ‘Peace, Love and Positivity,’” according to the report.
But Rushing’s behavior the night he was killed, according to the report, was “entirely out of his normal character” and pointed to an “unhinged mind.”
Investigators have speculated that Rushing was under the influence of some type of psychedelic drug during the episode given his sustained strength after initially being shot in the chest by the security guard.
But toxicology reports revealed that the only controlled substance found in Rushing’s blood was a moderate amount of marijuana.
Ramsey said it is still possible that Rushing was under the influence of a drug that wasn’t detected during toxicology tests.
The district attorney noted that a small plastic bag with several unknown “seeds” was found with Rushing’s clothing, but it was not clear what the seeds were. The seeds will be examined by the FBI and other agencies.
Rushing was shot in an incident that began about 10:40 p.m. July 23 at the title company, according to the report.
Two motion sensors inside the business were tripped, and the business’ contracted security company was called to check on the alarms.
A 23-year-old armed security guard notified Chico police dispatchers about 10:48 p.m. that he would be responding to an alarm call at the business.
When the guard arrived he began checking the building’s perimeter and noticed a shrub-covered fence had been pulled back away from the building, leading him to believe someone may have broken into an outdoor patio area of the business.
The guard entered the patio area to continue his investigation and activated his body camera about 10:58 p.m.
He noticed that a building window had been broken and radioed his colleagues to notify Chico police that the building had been burglarized.
A few seconds later the guard was attacked by a man — identified as Rushing — who rapidly approached him in the patio area. The attack was captured by the guard’s body camera.
The guard told investigators he saw and felt himself being stabbed in the arm and fired his handgun once at Rushing at close range, striking him in the chest. Rushing then ran away.
Investigators found that the security guard had been stabbed in the left forearm with broken glass from a blown-glass flowerpot.
Chico police were notified of the shooting about 11 p.m. and responded to the scene.
About 11:12 p.m., Ruppel, checking inside the business, announced himself and yelled for Rushing to come out.
According to the investigation report, that’s when Rushing — from elsewhere in the building — allegedly cursed the officer and yelled, “I’ve got a gun.”
Officers shortly afterward determined that Rushing was in an employee bathroom and took positions throughout the interior of the business. For about 35 minutes Ruppel can be heard in body camera videos continually asking Rushing to come out of the bathroom.
About 11:50 p.m., police officers and a Butte County sheriff’s deputy with a K-9 rammed their way into the bathroom to get to Rushing.
As officers moved into the bloodied bathroom with a ballistic shield they became involved in a struggle with Rushing, who was situated behind the bathroom door. Rushing began swinging a piece of ceramic broken off from a toilet in the bathroom and struck one police officer, Cedric Schwyzer, in the forehead, according to the report. Schwyzer was cut and his wound was sutured.
As officers and Rushing continued to struggle, Rushing allegedly stabbed Ruppel in the neck with what investigators said was a retractable ballpoint pen.
Ruppel told investigators he saw Rushing continue to swing at officers in the bathroom after he was stabbed. That’s when he drew his handgun and fired two shots at Rushing, striking him twic.
Rushing fell to the ground, and officers used a Taser and handcuffed him “to prevent any further threat of harm.”
Rushing was subsequently moved from the bathroom to medics nearby but was pronounced dead at the scene about 11:59 p.m.
During the news conference Thursday, Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien said officers entered the bathroom to try to save Rushing’s life because they had information that he had been shot.
O’Brien said police heard Rushing moaning in the bathroom and saw blood coming from inside.
“Iterations of different things that were coming from that room led that sergeant and other officers to believe that he was dying inside there,” O’Brien said. “Their intent was to go in there and save his life.”
The police chief said Ruppel had undergone an eight-hour training course in crisis intervention training in 2015, adding that he did not believe anything else could have been said in the 35 minutes before officers entered the bathroom that would have evoked a different response from Rushing.
“I thought Sgt. Ruppel actually used a variety of different terms in an attempt to get Mr. Rushing to come out,” O’Brien said. “I think he used all the terminology that I’m familiar with as far as CIT (crisis intervention training).”
