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Jan. 1 event set for Desmond Phillips, AB392

A celebration to both remember the life of Desmond Phillips and to ring in a new state law governing police killings will be held on the first day of 2020.

The Jan. 1 potluck will include music and speakers and be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Faith Lutheran Church of Chico, 667 E. First Ave. The public is encouraged to participate by the sponsoring Justice for Desmond Phillips group, said David Phillips, Desmond’s father.

Desmond Phillips, a 25-year-old black and Miwok Native man in mental crisis, was shot 11 times in his own living room by Chico police officers Alex Fliehr and Jeremy Gagnebin on March 17, 2017, just seconds after they entered the residence. Phillips was born on the first day of 1992, and, had he lived, would be turning 28 on Jan. 1. read more

Cop who shot Desmond also Tased Tyler

Chico police officer Alex Fliehr, who fired first and the most in the Desmond Phillips killing, has testified about trying to shoot Tyler Rushing three months later. In the confrontation that killed Rushing, Fliehr also shot a Taser as Rushing lay prone, motionless and unarmed.

Those facts and others – including that Fliehr saw “action” in the Iraq war – have emerged in sworn testimony during depositions for wrongful death lawsuits filed against the city of Chico by the Phillips and Rushing families. The two men were both experiencing mental disorders when shot to death in 2017.

Fliehr’s combat history was left off his resume when Police Chief Mike O’Brien held a news briefing three days after the March 17, 2017, killing of Phillips, a young black man. O’Brien’s purpose was to identify the two inexperienced officers, Fliehr and Jeremy Gagnebin, who together had sprayed the Phillipses’ small living room with 16 shots. Eleven of their hollow-point rounds devastated Phillips’ body. He probably died before he hit the floor — this 25-year-old, who, when killed, was mentally disabled and likely also feeling the effects of being shocked by a police stun gun. No officers were hurt. read more

Desmond attorney: Judge erred

photo courtesy of Phillips family

Desmond Phillips

SACRAMENTO – When a conservative federal judge this week blocked claims for damages sought by Desmond Phillips’ family, Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien quickly spun out a press release saying the judge had justified Phillips’ controversial police killing.

However, Ben Nisenbaum, an attorney for the family, told ChicoSol in a Wednesday phone interview that Judge John Mendez erred in his rulings in court Tuesday. Once Mendez’s words are sorted out, Nisenbaum believes Phillips’ survivors will get the jury trial they are seeking.

Mendez, a judge in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, in Sacramento, dismissed civil claims that had been filed by the family of 25-year-old Desmond Phillips, an African-American man who was suffering from a mental crisis when he was killed in his own living room by two young Chico police officers. The family’s complaint alleged violations of both federal and California laws. read more

Autopsy: Phillips shot 11 times, not 10

Phillips family photo Desmond Phillips — Phillips family photo

Desmond Phillips

Desmond Phillips, a mentally ill young black man killed by Chico police on March 17, was hit by 11 bullets — not shot 10 times, as Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey has claimed — according to a forensic autopsy report reviewed by ChicoSol.

One of those 11 rounds hit Phillips in the nose and then re-entered his body through his chest, creating a total of 12 gunshot entry wounds, says the autopsy report. That same bullet, which the report says traveled in a downward direction at a “sharp angle,” tore through Phillips’ heart, causing his most grievous wound.

Erica Traverso, a Butte College instructor active in the Justice for Desmond Phillips group, said the autopsy indicates Phillips was in a position akin to kneeling when the deadly shot penetrated his heart. read more

Swift siege leads to fatal shooting, family’s ire

photo by Karen LasloDelphine Norman, mother of Desmond Phillips, protests outside the April 17 town hall meeting held by Rep. Doug LaMalfa. — photo by Karen Laslo

Delphine Norman, mother of Desmond Phillips, protests outside the April 17 town hall meeting held by Rep. Doug LaMalfa.

The night of Desmond Phillips’ March 17 killing, a Chico police officer shined a flashlight at a window a few paces to the left of the front door of his father’s apartment.

Before that door was forced open, before the knife-holding Desmond was first shot with a Taser and then riddled with police bullets, and before Dave Phillips, shocked and wailing, crawled down the hallway to his dying son’s side, the officer saw an eye peeking through the closed blind.

Behind the blind were Desmond Phillips’ two nephews, ages 12 and 18, together in one of the small home’s two locked bedrooms, on the phone with their mother. Dave Phillips, who had grown increasingly frantic about Desmond’s behavior, had locked himself in the other bedroom and was talking with a police dispatcher. read more

Chico PD says officers returned fire, killing suspect

photo by Leslie Layton

Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge called the shooting that killed Michael Oxley a “traumatic incident.”

While few details have been disclosed about the fatal shooting March 2 by Chico police of 43-year-old Michael Oxley, quite a lot is known about two SWAT team sergeants who fired their assault rifles.

The sergeants, Alex Fliehr and Nick Bauer, were each involved in a previous fatal shooting incident, while Fliehr’s unorthodox use of a taser in yet another case led to a civil rights trial in federal court.

Police say Oxley was killed after four SWAT team members returned his fire. In addition to Fliehr and Bauer, officers Tyler Hernandez and Gabe Durney shot at Oxley, said Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge. read more