Murder of Dylan Noble Deemed Justified Despite Chief’s Admission Mistakes Were Made

The August murder of Dylan Noble, by Fresno Police, was recently ruled as justified. Despite the cell phone and body cam videos that have been released showing Dylan shot with a shotgun after he was already hit three times by a handgun, it will remain that no one will be held accountable.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer released the information during a press conference. While the community felt the shooting was unjustified and demanded action, the chief disagreed. He did concede however, that “proper tactics were not used” when the officer delivered the fourth shot. Despite his admission, he deemed all four shots by the two officers justified. The fact that police keep justifying shootings – that everyone else with two eyes knows to be murder – is becoming too much to bear. The fact that the Chief admitted proper tactics were not used, but simultaneously deemed the shooting justified, just shows the depths of hypocrisy that police are willing to stoop to in order to protect their own.

The initial three shots were fired by Ofc. Raymond Camacho. The chief stated that these shots were justified, as Noble presented an imminent threat. The fourth shot came from Ofc. Robert Chavez, who fired a shotgun blast at Noble after he was incapacitated by the first three shots. His blast came 14 seconds after Noble had been last hit. “I recognize that time and distance can become distorted during a stressful incident,” Dyer told the press. “However, it is my belief that after reviewing all of the evidence in this case, that 14 seconds provided sufficient time to the officer to consider and employ other potential alternatives which may have minimized the need for the fourth and final round to be fired.” What Dyer really said was, we know our guy screwed up, but we don’t care enough to do anything about it.

Dylan was shot by Ofc. Chavez as he laid on the ground in agony, after fourteen seconds. Dylan posed no threat whatsoever, making his act one of malice. Police are only allowed to use deadly force to prevent death or great bodily harm. Ofc. Chavez prevented neither by executing him as he did. Dyer stated that the officers held no “ill will” against Noble, and that they had been called to an incident with a man walking down the street with a firearm.

Noble had been pulled over in his vehicle and there had been no indication that he ever had a weapon. When asked why he was stopped, the police initially claimed that he had driven at a high rate of speed away from the area where the man with a gun had been located. Despite there being no connection between a man with a gun and a speeding truck, police would like to convince you otherwise.

Dyer implied that some disciplinary action was taken, but did not clarify who the discipline was taken against. He refused to discuss the discipline under the guise of an archaic law preventing him in doing so, despite the fact that all police discipline records are available to the public.

“I’m sorry that Dylan Noble lost his life, but I think we all recognize that there are some contributing factors, and these officers were put in a position where they felt the need to use deadly force because they felt that their lives were threatened and they felt other citizens’ lives were threatened. It’s unfortunate, and it’s a tragedy, but the officers did not initiate this incident,” Dyer said.

Police murdered an innocent man who wasn’t connected to the suspect they were searching for; yet they claim they did not initiate the incident. This is pathological behavior on the part of the police chief.

Officer Chavez’s lawyer, Roger Wilson, defended his client’s fourteen-second gap. “This is not the time Officer Chavez had to think about this.” He claims Chavez “reacted to what he saw – one hand raising up his shirt, and another reaching in – in a split second.” Wilson’s statement, however, is in direct contradiction with the findings that the Chief outlined in his address to the media. The findings have been turned over to the prosecutor, who stated that his office “is close” to making a determination, which can be loosely translated to close to letting this thug walk free. Both of Noble’s parents have filed suit against the Chief, Chavez and the Fresno Police Department. Unfortunately, this will end up yet another case where justice can only be found in the form of a cash payout.

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