Vallejo officer involved in 2 fatal shootings fired

VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay Area City fired a police officer who was involved in two fatal shootings within the past two years, officials announced Thursday.

The Vallejo Police Department said it fired Officer Ryan McMahon, who fatally shot Ronell Foster in 2018 and joined five other officers in killing Willie McCoy last year, KPIX-TV reported.

Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams already recommended McMahon’s termination back in March, but officially fired him after an Internal Affairs investigation concluded that he violated department policies that included “unsafe conduct” for firing a gun when another officer was about to be in the line of fire during McCoy’s fatal shooting.

“Any conduct outside the level of professionalism this City deserves will not be tolerated by the Vallejo Police Department,” Williams said.

In February 2018, McMahon reportedly attempted to stop 33-year-old Ronnell Foster for “riding a bicycle in an unsafe manner.” Foster ran off, and McMahon shot him with a taser, which had no effect.

McMahon caught up with Foster and after pushing him down stairs, McMahon tased him at close range and beat him with a flashlight. Foster took the flashlight from McMahon and tried to flee again when McMahon fatally shot him.

Foster’s family hired civil rights attorney John Burris, who sued the city of Vallejo. The city settled the lawsuit for $5.7 million.

Last February, McMahon was one of six officers involved in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old McCoy, a rapper who performed under the name Willie Bo.

Officers discovered McCoy sleeping in his car in the drive-thru of a Taco Bell the evening of Feb. 9, 2019. After ordering him to keep his hands visible, the six officers claim that McCoy reached for a handgun in his lap. They opened fire on him, shooting him 55 times in less than four seconds.

McCoy’s family hired Burris to sue the city over the incident, and the department placed McMahon on paid administrative leave that fall. The lawsuit is pending.