{"id":4903,"date":"2026-07-19T19:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4903"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:40:14","slug":"police-use-of-force-in-fatal-brentwood-shooting-was-reasonable-da-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4903","title":{"rendered":"Police use of force in fatal Brentwood shooting was ‘reasonable,’ DA rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BRENTWOOD \u2014 The Contra Costa District Attorney\u2019s office has released its report on the fatal police shooting of a 43-year-old Stockton resident during a Christmas Eve traffic stop, finding it was \u201creasonable\u201d for an officer to open fire after the man pointed an \u201cAR-style\u201d rifle in his and other officers\u2019 direction.<\/p>\n

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The report, released Friday, also said the three officers involved in the shooting of Romaine Alexender Morgan \u201cacted in self-defense\u201d and the \u201cdefense of others.\u201d With that, the D.A.\u2019s office, which is tasked with determining criminal liability, said that \u201cno further action\u201d would be taken in the case.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s report offers some new details of the shooting, which took place at about 10:45 p.m. on Balfour Road at Foothill Drive on Dec. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Officer Tanner Kephart initiated the stop after first spotting Morgan\u2019s car traveling in front of him on Deer Valley Road, well below the 45-mph speed limit; it was weaving \u201cback and forth\u201d and swerved \u201cerratically to the right,\u201d leading Kephart to suspect that the driver could be under the influence, the report said.<\/p>\n

On Balfour Road, Kephart was soon joined by Officers Chelsea Valadez and Kimberly Beltran, and all three officers\u2019 initial interactions with Morgan appeared to be friendly, according to the officers\u2019 body-worn and in-car camera recordings that were publicly released in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morgan told officers he was driving back home after dropping off family members at an area hospital, the recordings showed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know who was behind me \u2014 it was just blacked out,\u201d Morgan said after being told he was pulled over for swerving. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Who is following me like that?\u2019 I\u2019m very paranoid like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Kephart checked Morgan\u2019s vehicle registration, another officer spotted marijuana inside his car, Brentwood police reported in February. While Morgan denied he was under the influence, the discovery of the marijuana gave officers probable cause to search the car, police said.<\/p>\n

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Morgan agreed to step out of his sedan, stood in front of a patrol vehicle and allowed officers to pat him down, the recordings showed. While searching his car, Beltran removed a jacket from the front passenger floorboard and located an AR-style rifle, which was later determined to be unserialized and loaded, the D.A.\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

The discovery of the firearm prompted Kephart to order Morgan to place his hands behind his back, but the 6-foot-3-inch, 320-pound Morgan pushed Valadez and ran out into the street, only to stop, change directions and run back toward his car and the loaded rifle, the report said.<\/p>\n

A scuffle ensued, and officers tried to grab Morgan, but he continued to punch and push them out of the way, the report said. Valadez deployed a taser at Morgan, but it was ineffective.<\/p>\n

Reaching his car, Morgan found his rifle, grabbed it by the pistol grip, turned toward the officers, and lifted the barrel of the rifle toward them, the D.A.\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

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All three officers immediately backed away from Morgan, while Kephart retreated next to his patrol car. He drew his firearm and fired 10 times in rapid succession at Morgan, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Morgan was fatally wounded, and despite officers and emergency medical personnel attempting life-saving measures, Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Both the Brentwood police and the D.A.\u2019s office launched separate investigations. Under Contra Costa County protocol, the D.A.\u2019s office is charged with determining criminal liability.<\/p>\n

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A Stockton man was killed during a traffic stop with police after he reportedly grabbed a rifle and pointed it at officers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPolice use of force in fatal Brentwood shooting was ‘reasonable,’ DA rules - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Police use of force in fatal Brentwood shooting was ‘reasonable,’ DA rules - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Stockton man was killed during a traffic stop with police after he reportedly grabbed a rifle and pointed it at officers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T19:40:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Police use of force in fatal Brentwood shooting was ‘reasonable,’ DA rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-19T19:40:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903\"},\"wordCount\":643,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/6240bfc0cb1952e24430c336ddec111d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4903\",\"name\":\"Police use of force in fatal Brentwood shooting was ‘reasonable,’ DA rules - 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