DA clears all police involved in fatal Salinas shootings last year.

The two Salinas police officers who shot and killed Carlos Mejia, who was armed with gardening shears near a busy East Salinas corner last year, were justified in the shooting, according to District Attorney Dean Flippo. 

Flippo and Assistant District Attorney Rolando Mazariegos announced their findings at a news conference Friday afternoon, which were based on interviews with witnesses and an extensive review of the evidence in the case. 

In that review, they relied partly upon the same cellphone video that captured 44-year-old Mejia's death that went viral, and spurred days of unrest and protest in Salinas. 

Investigators used stills from the video to re-create the scene near the corner of Del Monte Avenue and North Sanborn Road, standing in the same places then using laser measuring devices to see how close Mejia was to police officers. 

At the time officers shot, they were 8 feet and 7 inches apart, Flippo said. 

The deadly encounter began around noon on Tuesday, May 20 when a woman hear Mejia knocking at the door, according to Flippo's investigation. Expecting a package delivery, she opened it, but found a stranger—Mejia—standing there, demanding food. She asked him to leave, but instead he stayed on her property, shouting obscenities and threatening to kill her and her dog while opening and closing his shears. He also exposed himself to her. 

At 12:13pm, she called 911, reporting a drunk man with large scissors coming into her home and removing his pants. (A toxicology report later revealed he was under the influence of methamphetamine and had a blood alcohol level of 0.27, more than three times the legal driving limit.) 

Officer Josh Lynd and Sgt. Danny Warner were dispatched, and immediately saw the woman and Mejia. 

Flippo says Mejia never spoke to the officers, though they addressed him repeatedly in English and Spanish and ordered him to drop the shears. 

"Mejia continued to move away, ignore commands, and waved the shears in a threatening manner," according to Flippo's Sept. 4 letter to Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin, laying out his findings. 

They closed the gap between themselves and Mejia as they followed him, starting with a space of about 15 to 20 feet, and eventually narrowing the gap to 8 and a half feet, as Flippo and Mazariegos demonstrated with water bottles.

“The distance is important," Flippo said Friday. "It is critical.”

Officers attempted to fire Tasers twice at Mejia, but one was defective due to low voltage; in the second attempt, only one of two prongs hit Mejia, so it didn't take effect. 

Lynd and Warner kept following Mejia as he walked, shears out, toward the corner of Del Monte and Sanborn, a busy thoroughfare with a bakery door just about 25 feet away. Lynd moved in, aiming to wrestle Mejia to the ground and stop him. To do so, he drew nearer, closing the distance to about 8 and a half feet. 

At 12:20, video shows Mejia turned toward the officers. They both opened fire, firing a total of seven bullets. Six struck Mejia, all on the front of his body; one hit the bakery wall. 

Investigators interviewed at least 13 witnesses to various parts of the encounter; they disputed some of the facts, but most heard officers issue commands, ordering Mejia to drop the shears or get down, according to the DA's report. 

The officers acted reasonably and in self defense, Flippo wrote: "Police officers can lawfully use deadly force even if from 20/20 hindsight other feasible, and even less dangerous, options existed." 

This investigation is the fourth and final investigation into 2014 fatal officer-involved shootings in Salinas. Flippo cleared the officers in all of those shootings, and has handed over the findings to the state Attorney General for review, at the request of Chief McMillin.