Name: San Mateo County sheriff releases video of officer-involved fatal shooting of a woman
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San Mateo County sheriff releases video of officer-involved fatal shooting of a woman

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office has released video of a May 5 shooting in Half Moon Bay in which a 56-year-old woman was killed by sheriff’s deputies after allegedly firing a shotgun at a deputy.The posted to the Sheriff’s Office website on Monday includes body-worn camera footage from two deputies who were on scene during the shooting. Sandra Lee Harmon, 56, died from injuries suffered in the shooting.At about 7:30 p.m., on May 5, deputies responded to a report of a woman carrying a rifle in the 800 block of Main Street in Half Moon Bay, according to the Sheriff’s Office.In a recording of a 911 call included in the video, the caller says: “There’s a woman walking down the street with a gun and a bottle of wine, warning me that a race war was going to happen.”The video shows security camera footage from a business at Main and Miramontes streets that appears to show a person walking through the intersection carrying a long gun.The video uses text slides to describe events leading up to the shooting. It states a deputy, identified as David Dominguez, approached a motor home parked behind a restaurant at 845 Main Street to contact potential witnesses and encountered Harmon.It states Harmon “exited the motor home and leveled her shotgun” toward Dominguez, who “retreated to the cover of his patrol vehicle.” As Dominguez “took cover,” Harmon “fired the shotgun in his direction” and Dominguez returned fire.“In the fast moving situation with incoming fire, Deputy Dominguez did not activate his body-worn camera,” the text states.After Dominguez fired his weapon, Harmon “dropped the shotgun.” A second deputy, identified as John Baba, arrived on scene with his body-worn camera activated. Harmon “was ordered to the ground but instead reached down for the shotgun,” the video text states. “Both deputies Baba and Dominguez then fired their service weapons.”San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos Bolanos also addresses the shooting on camera as part of the video.“When one of our deputies responded, Ms. Harmon aimed and fired her shotgun at the deputy, who in turn discharged his service weapon,” Bolanos says. “As other deputies arrived, Ms. Harmon had dropped or placed the shotgun on the ground but then attempted to pick it up again. That’s when another deputy discharged his service weapon.”Multiple shots can be heard in footage from Baba’s camera as he runs to and arrives on scene. In footage from cameras worn by Baba and a third deputy, deputies are heard ordering Harmon to: “Get on the ground.” Harmon is in view of both cameras for about five seconds before being shot.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.A Sheriff’s Office release from May 12 said Baba and Dominguez were on routine administrative leave pending an investigation by the San Mateo County district attorney’s office’s Bureau of Investigation, and that the Sheriff’s Office was conducting an internal administrative review.Baba has been with the Sheriff’s Office for about two years and previously worked as a police officer at another agency, and Dominguez joined the Sheriff’s Office as a correctional officer in August 2016 and became a deputy in September 2018, the release said.Bolanos said in Monday’s video the county district attorney’s office is still “looking into” the shooting.“We take any use of force seriously,” Bolanos said. “Our goal in releasing these videos while still early in the investigation is to provide our community with as much information as possible when we have a tragic incident such as this.”Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office has released video of a May 5 shooting in Half Moon Bay in which a 56-year-old woman was killed by sheriff’s deputies after allegedly firing a shotgun at a deputy.The posted to the Sheriff’s Office website on Monday includes body-worn camera footage from two deputies who were on scene during the shooting. Sandra Lee Harmon, 56, died from injuries suffered in the shooting.At about 7:30 p.m., on May 5, deputies responded to a report of a woman carrying a rifle in the 800 block of Main Street in...

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Matt Kawahara

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San Mateo County sheriff releases video of officer-involved fatal shooting of a woman

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