Killing of Dylan Noble
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 Undated photo of Dylan Noble | |
| Date | June 25, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Location | Fresno, California, US |
| Type | Murder-suicide, police brutality, suicide by cop |
| Participants | Raymond Camacho and Robert Chavez |
| Deaths | Dylan Mark Noble, aged 19 |
| Charges | None |
On June 25, 2016, Dylan Mark Noble (September 16, 1996 – June 25, 2016), an unarmed and suicidal 19-year-old white man of Clovis, California, was fatally shot four times by two officers of the Fresno Police Department during a traffic stop in the east side of Fresno, California.[1] The shooting itself sparked outrage across both Fresno and its metropolitan area, as Noble had been suffering mental health issues and cried that he hated his life before being shot by the two officers.[2][3]
Shortly around 3:20 p.m. on June 25, 2016, longtime Fresno officers Raymond Camacho, who worked with the department for 20 years, and Robert Chavez, who also worked with the department for 17 years, initiated an afternoon traffic stop on a black 1995 GMC Sierra pickup truck with a missing trunk door for wreckless driving and speeding.[4] Noble refused to pull over the vehicle, and Fresno officers had no choice but to pursue the vehicle until reaching towards the parking lot leading to the Chevron gas station and the Fast N Esy convenience store near the intersections of East Shields Avenue and North Armstrong Avenue in the east side of Fresno.[5] After Noble parked his GMC at the east side of the lot, one of the officers brandished his gun on the steering wheel, believing that Noble was armed with a weapon. One officer can be heard yelling to Noble, “Turn off the truck. Get your hands out the window. Both hands out the window.” A second officer then shouted, “Let me see both your hands… Get both your hands out.”[5]
Noble exited the Sierra and approached the officers before he moved away from them. Officers gave a total of 30 commands, urging Noble to show his hands, lift his hands or lie down on the ground.[5] An officer immediately called backup as Noble defied their orders before carrying an object in his right hand that officers believed that it is a weapon. Noble shouted, "I FUCKING HATE MY LIFE!" before officers opened fire on Noble.[6] Noble shouted "FUCK IT" as his last words. Camacho shot Noble twice, causing him to fall to the ground. He fired another round before Chaveaz opened a fourth round 12 seconds later. Noble was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead three hours later.[5]
Protests & Reactions
Despite officers finding both alcohol and cocaine in the vehicle,[7] Dylan Noble's death sparked massive outrage across Fresno. For five days between June 25 and 30, 2016, protests began almost immediately at the Chevron gas station where Noble was gunned down. Large gatherings were presented at the scene of the "crime", followed by a walkout in downtown Fresno.[8] Several of Noble's friends held up White Lives Matter signs as an act of protest, while one person carried a Confederate flag, which drew international media attention over the usage of both items.[9] It was later confirmed that the White Lives Matter sign was meant for "the support of white people as equal as black people from previous incidents", as his friends confirmed that “Dylan’s life mattered, and yes, he’s white.”[10] It remains undetermined on why one person used a Confederate flag in the protests.
Exactly a week after Noble's private funeral in his hometown of Clovis, California, protests surged again on July 13, 2016, after the Fresno Police Department released graphic bodycam footage, leading to a larger, more organized demonstrations involving several groups, who joined to protect police brutality in general.[11] The protests were held in front of both the Fresno County Jail and the City Hall. Family members and small groups of supporters continued to hold demonstrations well into November 2016, as they all gathered in front of the District Attorney's office, demanding that the officers involved be criminally charged.[12] On June 25, 2017, another protest was held in connection of the first anniversary of his death.[13]
Noble's mother described Dylan as a kind-hearted young man who loved his truck and friends, pushing back against any attempt by the media or police to portray him as a criminal. His father expressed both deep disbelief and anger in his interview, stating that the bodycam shows how his son was murdered, adding that "They’re just trigger-happy. Nothing is going to bring my son back. But I want those cops to pay. I want them to go to jail for murder."[14]
During the second set of protests, Fresno's mayor Ashley Swearengin spoke on the phone to ABC O&O affiliate KFSN-TV, saying "I still struggle to find the right words, because there's no way to capture, I think, the feelings that we're all having right now. I'm trying to walk through this as if I were in the shoes of law enforcement, the shoes of family, and I think like most Fresnans, it's just such a conflictive feeling.[15] There will always be a time to comment, to ask people to come together as a community after you know that people's safety has been addressed.[15] And that's really where my mindset has been over this last week. I think that people are probably thinking, 'gosh if he had just shown his hands or if he had just followed the officer's commands, you know, the situation could have been avoided."[15]