Scott Rushing, wearing his only son’s blue polo work shirt, had a question Thursday evening for two dozen people attending a sidewalk vigil on the third anniversary of Tyler Rushing’s death.
How many people have Chico police killed since Tyler died on a bloody bathroom floor inside a title company on July 23, 2017? The answer, as many in the group knew, is zero.
“Is that a coincidence? I don’t think so. … I believe we’ve saved lives,” Rushing said of the activism that followed the killings of his son and Desmond Phillips, a young Black man in mental crisis who was gunned down by Chico police on March 17, 2017.
Tyler Rushing, 34, was first shot in the chest by private security guard Edgar Sanchez and later shot twice at near-point-blank range by Chico police Sgt. Scott Ruppel. Ruppel’s second shot during a struggle was into the back of Rushing’s neck. Rushing had assaulted the guard with a flower pot handle and had stabbed Ruppel in the neck with a Chico PD-issued ballpoint pen.
