The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has concluded that a Sunnyvale police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who came at him with a hammer raised over his head, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Officer Thomas Sprayberry of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety fired seven shots at Jason White, hitting him three times outside White's mother's home in Sunnyvale on Dec. 15, 2012, prosecutors said in a 34-page report released Wednesday.
Sprayberry had been called to the home in response to a domestic dispute that involved White, 36, and White's 68-year-old mother Georgiana at 884 Tartarian Way near Middlebury Drive in Sunnyvale at about 6 p.m., according to prosecutors.
The officer was the first to arrive at the scene, heard Jason and Georgiana White arguing on the driveway of the home and due to the urgency of the situation, did not have the opportunity to take along "less lethal force options" from his car while pursuing Jason White, prosecutors reported.
Sprayberry noticed White approach him holding a ball-peen hammer, raised above White's head as if to strike, prompting the officer to tell him repeatedly to "Put down the hammer," according to prosecutors who quoted witness accounts.
White, however, kept coming after the officer, who at first retreated, then dropped his flashlight and police baton and repeatedly ordered White to stop, prosecutors said.
According to the district attorney's office, after White did not stop advancing, Sprayberry fired his gun from a distance of 25 to 30 feet, aiming at White's torso, until the man fell.
Local
"In our view, the officer used no more force than was necessary under the circumstances as he stopped shooting once White was on the ground," prosecutors reported.
The officer was justified in using deadly force to protect himself from an imminent threat posed by White, according to prosecutors.
"Based on all the evidence, we conclude that Officer Sprayberry lawfully discharged his firearm in self-defense," prosecutors said.
Prior to the shooting, White was intoxicated and when told by a neighbor that police were on the way, reportedly said, "I'll take on the f---ing police any day, any time!" prosecutors said.
Sprayberry had known Jason White after seeing him jaywalk in Sunnyvale in 2011, when White reportedly said that he would "lose it" the next time he met with police, prosecutors said.
