Daughter doesn’t fault sheriff’s deputies in fatal shooting of Jamestown man
The Jamestown man who died in a standoff with sheriff’s deputies Tuesday suffered from mental illness, his daughter said in an online post. She urged other people not to blame the officers at the scene.
The suspect was shot and killed after deputies responded to a domestic violence call at a Preston Lane apartment complex around 1 p.m., the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said.
It did not identify the man. The Union Democrat newspaper in Sonora said he was Richard Councilman, 56.
‘An ill man’
The online post, signed Kiki, was on the Facebook page where the Sheriff’s Office described the shooting:
“The man they shot today was my father. This was not police brutality; this wasn’t a trigger-happy officer. The officer that shot my father today did so within the rights to protect the life of himself and others, and was truly upset by how this turned out. My father was an ill man and he died today only because he wanted to ...”
The Modesto Bee could not reach the family Wednesday.
Domestic violence
The apartment complex is just east of the south end of Main Street in Jamestown.
Sheriff Bill Pooley told Fox 40 News that the suspect had “an extensive history of domestic violence.” A judge had granted a protective order for a woman at the apartment Monday, the station reported.
The Sheriff’s Office’s post said the suspect at first refused to leave the residence and threatened to exchange gunfire with deputies. He then emerged with “what appeared to be a firearm,” and deputies used “non-lethal projectiles” in an attempt to get him to surrender.
“The deputies were forced to use their service weapons,” the post said. “The man passed away at the scene of the incident. Further investigation revealed the firearm the man was holding was a replica.”
The office had no further information to release Wednesday, including the suspect’s name, Deputy Niccoli Sandelin said by phone. The Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office will review the case, the standard procedure for officer-involved shootings.
‘Please no hate towards them’
The daughter’s Facebook post urged compassion for the deputies:
“I loved my father, but as much as his death angers me, none of that anger goes towards the officers on scene. They were men with a job to do; today that job involved my father’s death, but I don’t believe that was their wishes ... So please no hate towards them; they don’t deserve it. I hope the officer who took the shot sees this comment and knows my family holds no ill will against him; he did what he had to do.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 2:30 PM.
