Sheriff releases footage of fatal Stanislaus County deputy-involved shooting
Warning: the video included with this article contains graphic content.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday released body camera footage after a deputy fatally shot a 16-year-old boy following a May 18 vehicle pursuit.
Xander Mann, whose family said he is from Riverbank, died May 21 from his injuries. He was driving the car during the pursuit and was one of five teens in the vehicle at the time of the incident, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The department’s YouTube video, which runs for about nine and a half minutes, shows body camera footage from two deputies who pulled Mann over for a traffic stop. The footage includes parts of the pursuit and the aftermath of the shooting.
However, there is no footage from Gerardo Zazueta, the deputy who shot Mann. He did not activate his body camera because of the “rapid nature of how this critical incident unfolded,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse says.
Some of the video is narrated by Dirkse, who speaks about parts of the department’s narrative that is not visible in the footage provided.
Initial footage shows Mann driving off after deputies Tovar and Stanley stop Mann’s car near the intersection of North Carpenter and Torrid roads. Right after Tovar approaches Mann’s window, the teen drives away.
After this, the footage cuts off and Dirkse says the deputies and Modesto Police Department officers began a 20-minute, 15-mile pursuit through Modesto to Finch and McClure roads.
Around the four-minute mark of the video, one of the two deputies can be heard saying, “There’s kids in there” during the pursuit of Mann’s vehicle.
During the chase, authorities unsuccessfully attempted what’s called a pursuit intervention technique (PIT) to stop the car, Dirkse says.
Dirkse says shortly after the first PIT attempt, Mann drove toward a deputy’s vehicle.
A second PIT maneuver forced Mann’s car to spin out, and he drove in reverse before hitting a curb and driving very close to Zazueta, who had gotten out of his patrol car, Dirkse says. Zazueta then shot Mann.
Deputy Stanley calls “shots fired” at this point in the footage.
Although the sound of gunshots can be heard in the background of the footage, the shooting itself is not visible because of the angle of the body cameras being worn by the deputies in the patrol car.
However, at the end of the YouTube video, the department included a few frames from the footage that appear to show Mann’s car in close proximity to Zazueta’s head.
“Deputy Zazueta had no time nor place to retreat,” Dirkse said.
Footage shows that after Mann was shot, his car crashed into a pole with his foot still on the gas pedal until deputies removed him from the car and started CPR. He does not appear to be moving.
“Xander,” one of the teens in the car can be heard saying. “Is he awake?”
Dirkse says the investigation into the incident remains ongoing, and information could change during the process.
The sheriff’s crimes against persons unit and internal affairs division, as well as the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, are participating in the investigation.
This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 7:00 PM.
