Family of 19-year-old-shot by Fresno police speak out
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The parents of a 19-year-old Fresno man killed during a traffic stop nearly two weeks ago, expressed their grief and outrage Thursday.
Fresno police shot and killed Dylan Noble. They say they felt threatened when he refused to follow commands and kept moving his hands. The police department also released new information Thursday about the officers involved.
The tearful parents of Dylan described their son as a happy young man with a full-time job and plenty of reasons to want to live.
"Dylan was a fun loving kid. He loved life. Everybody around him loved him. For anybody saying differently-- they didn't know him," said Darren Noble, Dylan's father.
"I am outraged that police would shoot my son and say it was his fault and that he was suicidal. To say he was unhappy," said Veronica Nelson, Dylan's mother.
But, that's not the Dylan who Fresno Police Officers said they confronted in late June near Shields and Armstrong.
The police chief said he was reaching for something in his glove box, not following orders, and concealing his hand behind his waistband. Chief Jerry Dyer said, to be transparent, he asked the FBI to look into the case last week.
"I knew that the shooting was controversial in the sense that we had an individual that was shot. I knew from the onset, based on the body worn camera video, that not only was he shot while he was walking toward the officer, but also when he was lying down reaching into his waistband. I knew that would create additional controversy."
The officers involved have nearly two decades of experience each. They have been interviewed at length as part of a criminal investigation and internal affairs probe. But now, the officers are being taken off the streets temporarily after receiving threats on social media.
"Our legal advisor has reviewed each and every one of those social media comments and threats, and has advised me not to release the names of the officers, but also that it's appropriate for me to put them in an administrative assignment for the meantime," said Dyer.
Thursday, Warren Paboojian, the lawyer representing Dylan Noble's father, said releasing the video will give everyone a complete picture of how the deadly shooting unfolded.
"Release the information and tell us how a 19-year-old boy on a traffic stop that's unarmed is shot four times. I mean that's all we know. So the community and my client deserve an explanation of that."
