STOCKTON — The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office released video Friday morning containing body-camera footage and dispatch audio captured during a deputy-involved shooting in July that left one man dead at a hotel in east Stockton near Highway 99.
Deputies shot and killed 61-year-old Chester Jenkins on July 23 after responding to a report of a man pacing a hallway of the Days Inn hotel on Waterloo Road holding in his hand what the caller described as a black and silver semi-automatic pistol, sheriff’s officials said. The firearm was later discovered to be a replica.
The caller said the suspect, identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Jenkins, had been the occupant in the room next door to them and described him as a bald, Black man age 55 to 60 standing at 6 feet 5 inches tall and wearing blue jeans with no shirt, according to the dispatch audio released Friday.
Jenkins allegedly had been yelling that his television had been stolen, sheriff’s officials said.
Three patrol cars responded to the hotel, where sheriff’s officials say two deputies were confronted by Jenkins within 60 seconds of arriving on scene.
Bodycam footage from the two deputies show them asking bystanders if they had seen or heard or anything as the deputies walked through the parking lot to a side hotel entrance. The bystanders said no and that they had only just arrived.
The deputies are then seen entering the hotel at the bottom of a stairwell. As the deputies are approaching the entrance to a hallway, which was located on their right, an arm and hand holding what appears to be a silver firearm is seen in the video.
The first deputy positioned himself slightly under and behind the stairwell across the hallway as a man matching the caller’s description comes into full view. The second deputy is positioned further back in the entrance corridor.
The first deputy then asks Jensen to show his hands immediately before both deputies fire several shots in Jenkins’ direction. Jenkins is seen with the firearm slightly raised while deputies are firing before falling to the side.
“The suspect began to raise the handgun towards our officers,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow says in the video. “They gave verbal commands and immediately fired their weapons to protect their lives.”
Sheriff’s officials say that the deputies then backed out of the building and waited for backup to arrive before going back into the hotel with a shield, where Jenkins was found down on the ground. Deputies then reportedly rendered first aid and requested an ambulance.
Jenkins was transported to an area hospital where he “unfortunately” succumbed to his injuries, Withrow said.
A protocol investigation into the shooting, involving the county District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Justice and detectives from the Sheriff’s Office, has been initiated.
Those results are still pending,” Withrow said, asking for prayers and patience as the investigation is completed and the truth is “brought forward.”
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Sandra Mendez said both deputies who discharged their weapons were put on administrative leave for at least three days and have since returned to full duty. The department will not be releasing the names of the deputies at this time, she said.
Withrow said that the shooting was a tragic event for everyone involved and the department’s hearts and prayers go out to the families of both Jenkins and the deputies involved.
“These are tragic events that sometimes unfold that officers have to go through. None of us want to be involved in this,” Withrow said. “But that’s what we’re there for, to stand and protect the public when they call for help.”
Contact reporter Cassie Dickman at (209) 546-8299 or
cdickman@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @byCassieDickman.