Richmond Police Release Details in Fatal Shooting of Man in Mental Health Crisis

The Richmond Police Department shared new details surrounding last week’s fatal police shooting on Monday that appeared to occur while the victim was having a mental health crisis at his family’s home.

In the 911 call released by the department, the brother of Angel Montaño can be heard telling officers that Montaño had been struggling despite his family’s attempts to connect him to care.

“I don’t have the answers of what can be done differently,” Richmond Police Chief Bisa French said at a press conference on Monday. “But I do hope that there will be some conversation around legislation and laws to get the people that actually need some mental health assistance the help that they need, so that we do not end up in these types of situations.”

Police officers fatally shot Montaño on Aug. 4 after a confrontation at a home on the 400 block of First Street, where police officials believe he lived with his mother and brother.

Department spokesperson Lt. Donald Patchin said around 5 p.m., dispatchers received an emergency call from Montaño’s brother, who said he was armed with a knife and threatening to kill the family members inside the residence.

During the 11-minute call, the brother indicated that Montaño, a father and reserve officer with the U.S. Marines, had been struggling with his mental health. Patchin said that the department previously responded to multiple calls regarding Montaño that they also believed to be mental-health related.

Officers Nicholas Remick and Colton Stocking arrived minutes after the 911 call and, according to Patchin, waited around the corner from the home for additional personnel and less lethal weapons to arrive. He said officers are armed with tasers, but were awaiting a bean-bag round and a 40 mm sponge round.

When the situation appeared to escalate, the officers approached the home before those resources were available. Patchin told reporters that the department does not have enough less-lethal weapons to stock every police vehicle.

In body camera footage, the officers can be seen approaching the door, which is ajar, and announcing themselves. Within seconds, Montaño appears in the doorframe holding two knives.

Shortly after, the officers discharged their guns.

“Fearing the lives of the people inside were in immediate danger, officers decided to intervene without further delay,” French said. “Within seconds, the armed subject came out from the doorway and advanced towards the officers with a knife in each of his hands. Despite repeated commands to stop, the individual continued to advance toward the officers. At that time, an officer-involved shooting occurred.”

This is the second fatal police shooting that Remick has been involved in this year. In February, he was one of two officers who fatally shot Jose Mendez-Rios, 51, after he refused to cooperate with law enforcement, spurring a 30-minute standoff.

Remick and Officer Jessica Khalil reportedly believed Mendez-Rios was wielding a knife, though the item he held was later found to be an empty sheath.

Following that shooting, the officers were placed on administrative leave, but Patchin told KQED that Remick returned to duty just two weeks later. He said that the department customarily puts officers on leave immediately following a shooting, and once the police chief is briefed on the circumstances, they decide whether officers can return to duty on a case-by-case basis.

An investigation into that shooting was turned over to the California Department of Justice since no weapon was involved. That investigation is ongoing.

Remick, who joined the Richmond Police Department in January 2023, is also named in two pending police brutality lawsuits. In one, he is accused of using excessive force against a man who was filming a police chase last spring.

Kwesi Guss, a Richmond-based cowboy, alleged that he was recording the activity after the vehicles involved in the chase pulled to a stop in front of Joe’s Market in Richmond.

He said that another officer, Sgt. Alexander Caine, began pushing him and telling him to move. After a bystander intervened, Caine stopped, but Remick approached Guss and “continued the assault,” according to the complaint.

Court filings say Caine and Remick then grabbed Guss, handcuffed him, kicked his ankle to force him to the ground and placed their knees on his back and ribs.

Following the altercation, Guss was treated for a head injury, rib bruising and lower back and rib pain during two separate emergency room visits, the complaint said.

John Burris, a civil rights attorney who is representing Guss, said he was not surprised Remick had been involved in another violent incident.

“That’s two people dead, who otherwise shouldn’t be dead, but for his conduct,” he said. “He’s involved in two shootings and a beating. I don’t know what his overall background is, but of course, there should be some limitation on his exposure to the public.”

Remick and Stocking have both been placed on leave following last week’s shooting, but Patchin on Monday defended Remick.

“I think, again, once we’re able to fully provide the details of what occurred in that incident [Guss’s beating] and what his actions and actual involvement were in that accident, that it will paint a much clearer picture as far as why he’s remained on duty,” he said.

The Richmond Police Department and Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office are both investigating last week’s shooting. Final results of those efforts could take more than a year.