Union files suit to keep name of officer private
Cop involved in fatal shooting not officially revealed
The Vallejo police union has filed a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from releasing the name of any officer involved in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa, according to court records and a union representative.
Vallejo police have not confirmed the name of the officer who shot Monterrosa, but multiple law enforcement sources identified him as Jarrett Tonn, a veteran police officer who had three prior shootings since 2015. Tonn, who this news agency named on June 5, was placed on administrative leave along with several “witness officers” after the shooting.
The order, filed Monday in Solano County Superior Court, will be heard in front of a Solano County judge, who will decide whether to issue an injunction further blocking the release. Lt. Michael Nichelini, who serves as president of the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association, said the court documents were filed under seal.
Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan and police Chief Shawny Williams couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday. The city issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that it would oppose the order in court and “seek to defend the City’s right to release the name of the officer(s) at a time and through a method of its choosing.”
Monterrosa, a San Francisco resident, was shot at about 12:30 a.m. on June 2 outside a Walgreens store on Redwood Street in
Vallejo as Tonn and other officers were responding to a report of looting at the store, Williams said during a June 3 press conference.
The officer mistook a hammer near Monterrosa’s waist for a gun, Williams said, and fearing for his safety, fired five shots through his patrol car’s windshield, striking and killing Monterrosa.
Days after the shooting, the police union and its attorneys released a statement stating that the officer and his family had received multiple death threats.
Also on Monday, the city and police department posted a statement online answering several questions about the shooting. Officials addressed why the city had yet to confirm the name of the officer who shot and killed Monterrosa.
“Typically, the best practice is for the names of officers involved in shootings to be withheld from the public for several weeks so that the officer can prepare themselves and their family for any risks they may face as a result of their involvement with a shooting,” the statement reads in part.
“The practice of deferring to release an officer’s name exists for a reason, and our Department
denounces the online threats that have been made against our officers and their families. Premature release of information puts lives at risk, and we will be working to investigate the release of confidential information and those who have made the online threats.”
The city also confirmed via that statement that Monterrosa was pronounced dead an hour after he was shot, directly contradicting an earlier statement from the police chief. The department’s first statement about the shooting, nearly four hours after the incident, did not mention that a person had been killed.
Police and the city waited 38 hours to confirm the death publicly; when asked about those delays last week, Williams claimed that “when we pushed out the information (confirming a police shooting,) he (Monterrosa) wasn’t pronounced dead.”
Following the police shooting of Monterrosa, Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state Department of Justice would open a review and reform effort of the Vallejo police force.