Man charged California police officer with shovel before being fatally shot, video shows

A 36-year-old man carrying a broken shovel charged at an Anaheim police officer before the officer fatally shot him outside an elementary school last month, body-worn camera footage shows.

Police first received a call around 12:10 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15, about a suspicious man standing outside a home in the 1100 block of North Columbine Street and holding a brick, Sgt. Jacob Gallacher said in a video posted on the Anaheim Police Department’s YouTube page. The caller reported the man appeared to be a transient and possibly under the influence of drugs.

About 30 minutes later, an officer arrived at the address. Around the same time, dispatch received a second call from an employee at John Marshall Elementary School reporting that the same man was now near campus with a broken shovel.

During that call, the dispatcher recited the description provided by the first caller — a man in his 30s, about 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, wearing a green shirt, brown pants and a backpack. The school employee confirmed the person outside the school matched that description and added that he had been lingering near campus for about an hour, first in the parking lot and later pacing along Falmouth Street while clutching the broken wooden handle of a shovel.

Minutes later, an officer arrived at Falmouth Street and Holly Avenue and encountered the man, later identified as Rudy Anthony Martinez II of Norwalk, walking in the middle of the road outside the school.

Dash camera video shows Martinez running toward the patrol car with the shovel raised over his head before striking the vehicle multiple times.

“Sit down,” the officer said as Martinez hit the car. “Sit… you’re gonna get shot.”

Body-worn camera footage then shows Martinez charging directly at the officer, shovel raised. The officer fired multiple rounds, striking him.

Staff and students at the school were in class at the time of the shooting and not exposed to any of the danger, police have said.

Anaheim paramedics are seen in the video rendering aid before transporting Martinez to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The officer was not injured.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting.