"My bullet wound came like this because my back was still in motion of running," said Marshall. Marshall exclusively showed Action News the 12 stitches on his chin from a gunshot wound he sustained during a police chase. "He basically tried to take my life. [The officer] did not have to shoot me up here. [He] could have shot me somewhere else," said Marshall.
On Monday night, a Fresno police officer shot Marshall near Weber and Princeton in central Fresno. Police tracked him down on a domestic violence disturbance call that originated outside the AM-PM store on Clinton and Marks.
But Marshall, who could have easily surrendered, decided to run instead. "I was scared for my life and there's been so many police shootings and I'm not on probation or nothing. I was scared to go to jail," said Marshall.
As he was trying to get away from police, he says he jumped over a fence, dropping 2 cell phones and a loaded gun from his sweater. "As he did so a gun fell to the ground. The suspect reached down grabbing the handgun as the officers approached," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer in a press conference Monday night.
But Marshall says he reached to get his phone – not knowing it was actually his .22 caliber pistol. "The [cop] already said, 'he got a gun' when I was trying to pick up my phone. And I'm thinking, 'I'm picking up my phone and he already shot, so when he shot me, I'm already in motion,'" said Marshall.
Marshall was arrested and booked into the Fresno County Jail on multiple counts but was released Wednesday after the District Attorney's office failed to file any charges. "That doesn't mean the case is over. There may be further investigation going on," said ABC30 Legal Analyst Tony Capozzi.
Capozzi says charges against Marshall are likely to come as police build their case. "He reached to grab the gun. To me, that gives justification for the police to shoot. They may have been in fear of their own lives," said Capozzi.
But Marshall says he was shot with his back towards the officer. Still, he regrets what happened. "I probably wouldn't have ran if I would have known," said Marshall, referring to the outcome.
Action News reached out to the police department but they would not comment on the case other than say they're working with the District Attorney's office to gather more evidence.
