BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On Thursday July 3rd, BPD was called to Walmart off of Gosford Rd. for an assault call. On arrival they tried to detained the suspect, but the suspect allegedly charged at them with a knife. Resulting in officers having to fire their firearm. The suspect is currently being hospitalized and is in stable condition.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
According to a new report, major crime in Bakersfield is at a standstill since last year. And use of force by police is also declining. And just Thursday night, police shot a woman who allegedly attacked officers with a knife.
The officer involved shooting happened Thursday evening around 8-15 at the Walmart parking lot on Gosford and Harris. Police say someone had been assaulted inside the store
Eric Celedon BPD Public Affairs Officer said "When they got there, they contacted the victim, and they confirmed that an assault had occurred and located the suspect just outside of the business. As contacted that suspect who has been identified as Miss. Dejanae Homes they attempted to detain her."
A press release by police says the suspect--a woman---attempted to assault the officers with a large hunting-style knife. Police shot her, though did not say how many times.
Eric Celedon tells me this is the first incident in 2025 where BPD had to use force to detain a subject.
"As you guys will see later through our release of a community debrief video. You will see that the officers attempted for several minutes to deescalate the situation using a number of techniques . Whether it's verbal or nonverbal or the presence of less lethal options. Unfortunately things like deescalation require cooperation from both parties and we didn't have that in this scenario. Which is why it unfortunately resulted in the way it did." said Celedon
This shooting happened on the same day Bakersfield police released its 2024 use of force report. Among other things, the report states.....BPD does not routinely use force as part of its policing activities. BPD strives to resolve all enforcement contacts without the use of force
"During 2024, the BPD received 266,466 calls for service (CFS), made 11,680 custodial arrests, and initiated 29,732 proactive contacts. Use of force incidents (551) across all police activities were extremely rare (0.2%)." said Greg Terry Bakersfield Police Chief
The officer who shot the woman at the Walmart parking lot is on routine administrative leave while the investigation continues.
Police say the woman shot remains hospitalized and is in stable condition.
This is still a developing story and we will keep you updated.
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