Video Of Fatal Shooting Of Alpine Man By Sheriff's Deputy Released

SAN DIEGO, CA — Authorities Friday released video footage of the fatal shooting by a sheriff's deputy of an Alpine man who allegedly approached him and his partner with a replica pistol in hand as the lawmen were checking on him at the request of a concerned neighbor.

Robert Edmund Liddell, 72, suffered fatal bullet wounds when Deputy Jordi Herrera opened fire on him in a hallway at Liddell's home in the 1700 block of Kyrsten Terrace on Nov. 5, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.

The events that led to the deadly law enforcement gunfire began shortly after 6:30 p.m. that day, when a woman made a 911 call to report that she was concerned about a neighbor she had been unable to contact.

Speaking to a dispatcher, the woman said she was outside Liddell's home, where she found the front door open but got no response from anyone inside.

"When I knocked, then I noticed (the door) started -- you know, it didn't open completely, but it pushed forward, and if I had knocked again, it would have opened the door," the caller said. "And so I called out, you know, but there's no answer."

About an hour later, Herrera and Deputy Christopher Kleppe arrived at Liddell's home and inspected the scene outside briefly before entering the unlocked front door.

Repeatedly identifying themselves as sheriff's deputies, the lawmen walked through the dark home, their flashlights lit and their uniform-worn cameras activated. About 30 seconds after they entered, Liddell emerged from a room with the imitation pistol in his hand and said, "Get the (expletive) out."

As Kleppe took refuge in a room and the resident pointed his replica gun toward that interior doorway, the deputies shouted at him to drop it, and moments later Herrera fired four rounds at Liddell, sending him collapsing to the floor.

Herrera and Kleppe provided emergency aid to Liddell prior to the arrival of paramedics, who assumed the lifesaving efforts and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Herrera has been with the Sheriff's Office for three years, and Kleppe for six. Per the agency's policies, they were placed on desk duty while the shooting is under investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office under terms of a 2020 state law.

Assembly Bill 1506 requires the state Department of Justice to investigate law enforcement shootings resulting in the deaths of unarmed people.

Under the statute, "armed" means being in possession of a deadly weapon, according to the DOJ. Replica firearms do not fall into that category unless they are used in a manner likely to produce death or great bodily injury -- for example, as a bludgeon.

— City News Service