Bodycam video shows cache of weapons, tactical equipment at home of fatal Richmond police shooting
By: Bodycam video released Friday by Richmond police shows the methodical room-by-room search of a harborside home last week. In the minutes before, officers shot and killed a man they say pointed a semi-automatic rifle at them as they opened the door to the last bedroom in the house.
Richmond police were serving a search warrant at the home after arresting 63-year-old Jose Martinez earlier in the day for brandishing a weapon on two occasions. They were at the residence looking for other firearms while he was in custody.
Police knew that his roommate, 66-year-old Kevin McDonald, lived there.
Once inside, officers announced their presence multiple times.
"Kevin, this is the Richmond Police Department, make yourself known!" an officer could be heard yelling on a recording of his body camera footage.
When officers slammed open the door to the last bedroom of the home, they found McDonald sitting on a bed. They say he was armed with a loaded AR15-style rifle.
Richmond Police Chief Bisa French says McDonald pointed the rifle at officers, and that's when two officers shot and killed McDonald.
Once inside, officers found a bizarre scene: a mannequin dressed like a soldier ready for combat with a firearm around its neck, pictures on the wall that depict the same thing, with shelves upon shelves of equipment and multiple weapons unsecured.
Fifty-three firearms were recovered from the home, police say 48 of them were in McDonald's bedroom and 17 were ghost guns.
Police say there was gun-making equipment in the home.
"Well over a thousand rounds of ammunition were recovered, a live pineapple hand grenade and gun manufacturing equipment were all recovered from the residence," Chief French said.
McDonald was pronounced dead on scene.
The homeowner, an elderly female relative of McDonald, was also home when this happened, but wasn't hurt or involved.
"We had no information regarding a large cache of weapons that we ultimately found in the house," Sgt. Donald Patchin, a Richmond Police Department spokesman, said. "The only information we had was Mr. Martinez did illegally possess three additional firearms, and the original intent was to go retrieve those firearms from his bedroom."
Back in the neighbor, where six bullet holes in the wall of the suspect's bedroom can still be seen from outside, neighbor Pat Tostenson was shocked to learn the details.
"We never expected all of this ammunition and guns and a live grenade, what a shock, this is such a quiet neighbor," Tostenson said. "It appears to me that maybe it was appropriate, considering how many weapons he had and what was his plan?"
Police say, at this point, it's not clear if McDonald was selling weapons out of the home.
As far as what McDonald could have been planning before the shooting, the ATF is now investigating.
And Richmond police say the two officers involved, are lucky to be alive.
"It speaks for itself, you can see the pictures of the numerous weapons, you can see the weapons, they're in plain view and readily accessible by Mr. McDonald as they entered that room," Patchin said. "This could have been very bad for our officers, we're very grateful that they weren't injured."