GRIDLEY — A year ago today, in the dawn of a new year, was it necessary for Gridley police to kill Baltazar Rubio, a smallish, timid man in acute mental crisis?
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, 365 days later, still hasn’t answered that question, though he issued a statement the day after the shooting giving the officers’ version of the deadly event. The three shooting officers – Sgt. Eva Smith and officers Anthony Lara and Garrett Mauldin — were soon returned to duty by the Gridley Police Department.
Body-worn camera videos of the killing of Rubio – recently released after denials and delays by the City of Gridley – raise questions about the tragedy. One critical question is how much danger police were in when, after pausing their gunfire, officers pulled their triggers a few final times.