BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Kern County Sheriff's Office has determined that a shooting involving one of its deputies in Oildale in February was "within departmental policy."
On February 9th, deputies were called to the area of Pierce and State roads in Oildale on a report of a man "breaking car windows and committing assault with a deadly weapon." That weapon turned out to be a hunting knife.
In a statement released at the time of the shooting, the KCSO stated: "Deputies responded and located the suspect who was armed with a deadly weapon. The suspect then attempted to take an uninvolved subject into a hostage situation and an officer-involved shooting occurred. The suspect was pronounced deceased at the theme their identity will be released pending next of kin notification by the coroner's office. No one else was injured and the investigation is ongoing at this time."
The suspect was later identified as 25-year-old Deven Karl Moore.
In a video edited by the Kern County Sheriff's Office, deputies can be seen following Moore as he walked away from them carrying a fire extinguisher. They order him to stop multiple times. At that point, Moore used the fire extinguisher and ram from the deputies.
Moore fled to a nearby guard shack at a business in the area and took a man hostage at knifepoint. It was at that point that Deputy Austin Burgess fired twice into the shack, killing Moore who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the investigation of the shooting by the KCSO Critical Incident Review Board, it was determined that Burgess acted within department policy.
The full video, edited by the Kern County Sheriff's Office, can be viewed online. CONTENT WARNING: Some viewers may find the images disturbing!
