UPDATE: 11:40 a.m. Thursday, July 30, 2020 – The Tehama County District Attorney’s Office announced that the officer-involved shooting that left a Redding man dead has been justified after a thorough investigation.
The shooting took place Aug. 30, 2019, when Alberto Martinez, of Redding, was shot in an interrogation room at the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident took place when Martinez came in for an interview at the sheriff’s office on allegations of child molest, according to the DA. During the interview, Martinez denied the allegations and became visibly agitated.
At the end of the interview, a Tehama County Sheriff's detective and sergeant informed Martinez that he was under arrest. Authorities had previously obtained an arrest warrant approved by a Tehama County Superior Court Judge, according to the DA.
Martinez refused to comply with any commands from authorities and grabbed one of the detective’s firearms and attempted to remove it from the holster. Authorities continued to wrestle on the ground with Martinez in an attempt to arrest him and gain his compliance.
The detective continued to let the sergeant know that Martinez had hold of his firearm, at which time the sergeant withdrew his own firearm and attempted to gain compliance with Martinez.
Authorities continued to make clear to Martinez that he did not want to shoot him in an attempt to get him to stop. Martinez continued to refuse commands and responded by telling authorities to shoot him while struggling to remove the detective’s firearm, according to the DA.
The Sgt. fired a single-shot, striking Martinez. Authorities immediately began life-saving efforts but he later died.
Martinez had one prior misdemeanor conviction for a driving-related offense and an autopsy report showed that he was positive for THC at the time of his death, the DA stated in a video Thursday.
The DA said, “Based on a review, it’s clear to this office that had Martinez successfully obtained Detective Frank’s firearm, he would likely have shot Detective Frank and/or Sgt. Hog as well as anyone else who had attempted to stop his fight. Martinez made clear by his words and his actions he had no intention of being arrested."
Findings and conclusion from the Tehama County District Attorney's Office investigation on the use of lethal force in the officer involved shooting of Alberto Martinez.
Watch “Officer Involved Shooting of Alberto Martinez” on #Vimeo https://t.co/WDUzwW3VGR
— Tehama County District Attorney (@TehamaCountyDA) July 30, 2020
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Update 8:15 p.m., September 3, 2019 - Action News Now has now learned the suspect killed was shot in an interrogation room at the Tehama County Sheriff's Office.
"In this particular case, they do have holsters which have safety measures on them and during the violent struggle, some of the safety measures weren't in place anymore," said Captain Dave Kain. "I'm not going to get into the whole nature of what those measures are because those safety measures are on our guns for us."
Martinez had multiple warrants out for continual child molestation on a child under ten.
This is an active investigation and the detective who shot Martinez is under administrative leave.
"In instances like this, this is not a typical setting you would expect for that type of scenario to go down prior to this violent reaction by Mr. Martinez, he was calm, he was participating in the interview, so those things can't be presumed in the future," said Kain.
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RED BLUFF, Calif. - A suspect is dead and a detective is injured following an officer-involved shooting.
The Sheriff's Office says around 6:30 p.m. on August 30 detectives from the Tehama County Sheriff's Office were interviewing Alberto Wayne Martinez, of Redding, regarding a child molestation investigation.
At the end of the interview, detectives attempted to arrest Martinez for an arrest warrant related to the investigation.
That is when Officials say Martinez, 32, resisted efforts to arrest him and grabbed one of the detective's handguns and attempted to remove it from the holster.
During the struggle over the handgun, another detective fired a single-shot, striking Martinez in the upper torso.
Detectives immediately administered life-saving efforts and called for fire and medical. Martinez was then transferred to Saint Elizabeth's Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m.
One of the detectives suffered minor injuries.
The California Highway Patrol Officer-Involved Shooting team responded to conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting.