December 2017
Date Name (age) of deceasedRaceState (city)Description 2017-12-31 Matthew Riehl (37) White Colorado (Highlands Ranch) Highlands Ranch police were called to the apartment of Riehl, a mentally ill man, twice in the early morning hours of December 31. When the same group of officers returned for the second time, Riehl opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, and fatally wounding Zackari "Zack" Parrish, a 29-year-old deputy who had worked for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office for seven months. A SWAT team was dispatched to the apartment about an hour later, and after a brief standoff, a SWAT officer shot and killed Riehl." 2017-12-31 Ernie Macias (32) Hispanic California (Bakersfield) "He was shot during a police investigation into a suspicious vehicle in an alley off Norwalk Street. Police said officers were approaching the vehicle when the driver, Macias, accelerated towards an officer. The officer fired his gun in self-defense, police said." 2017-12-30 Oscar Sandoval (39) Hispanic California (Winnetka) "LAPD officials said via Twitter Saturday night that officers were responding to a "family dispute" with reports of the suspect possibly armed with a handgun. The shooting happened after officers responded to an assault-with-deadly-weapon and shots-fired radio call at about 7:20 p.m. in the 6900 block of Oakdale Avenue, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Irma Mota. When officers from the Topanga Division arrived, they heard shots being fired and saw the suspect leave the location." 2017-12-30 Heath Wayne Hodges (36) White Texas (Iowa Park) "An Iowa Park man has been killed during an officer-involved shooting in Foard County, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety news release. Heath Wayne Hodges, 36, was killed in the incident, the release states. The DPS news release states the shooting happened around 10 p.m. Saturday night near Crowell, Texas. The Foard County Sheriff's deputy was not injured and has been placed on administrative leave by Foard County Sheriff Mike Brown during the investigation of the incident." 2017-12-30 Marco Antonio Carlos (31) Hispanic California (Redwood City) "A 31-year-old has been identified as the armed man who was killed by police outside a bank in downtown Redwood City Saturday afternoon. Marco Antonio Carlos, a Redwood City transient, was named as the person who died during the Dec. 30 confrontation, according to the San Mateo County Coroner's Office. The District Attorney's Office is now investigating what was the fourth fatal officer-involved shooting to occur in San Mateo County in 2017 alone." 2017-12-30 Jarvis Lykes (35) Black Georgia (Columbus) "A man fleeing from a DUI checkpoint is dead after he was shot by a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol Friday at the dead end of Lumpkin Court, a witness and authorities said Saturday. Jarvis Lykes, 35, of Columbus was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to the right shoulder at 10:37 p.m. in the emergency room at Midtown Medical Center, said Muscogee County Chief Deputy Coroner Freeman Worley. His body will be transported to the crime lab in Decatur for an autopsy. The unidentified trooper wasn't injured during the incident, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a release. The shooting remains under investigation by the GBI after a request from the Georgia State Patrol." 2017-12-29 Andrew Finch (28) White Kansas (Wichita) "Call of Duty gaming community points to 'swatting' in deadly Wichita police shooting. Online gamers have said in multiple Twitter posts that the shooting of a man Thursday night by Wichita police was the result of a "swatting" hoax involving two gamers." See also 2017 Wichita, Kansas swatting. 2017-12-29 Christopher Baird (37) White Alabama (Birmingham) "The shooting happened about 6:30 p.m. at the Days Inn on U.S. 280. South Precinct officers were dispatched to the motel after several people reported seeing a suspicious man with a gun who had knocked on several doors.