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LISTEN: Dispatch audio of off-duty officer shooting
VALLEJO — A local rapper was shot and killed by an off-duty Richmond officer after a confrontation Sunday evening in the parking lot of a gas station and popular restaurant, police said.
The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, near the Valero gas station and JJ’s Fish and Chicken at Fairgrounds and Sereno Drives. Several area residents told reporters that they heard six to seven shots.
A law enforcement source — as well as several onlookers and social media postings — identified the deceased man as Eric Reason, 38, a Vallejo resident. Police say more than one gun was recovered at the site of the shooting.
The officer was identified as Virgil Thomas, a Richmond police sergeant who works on patrol.
The shooting followed some kind of confrontation between Reason and the officer, according to police and several onlookers.
Reason was known as a local rapper who went by the stage name “Cheddaman,” and appeared on a song alongside popular California rapper Mac Mall on the compilation album 2009 “Country Club Crest: 3 C’s Down.” Relatives told KTVU and NBC that Reason was a father of six, who was working in construction.
Reason’s body remained in the middle of Sereno Drive, covered by a yellow tarp, for three hours after the shooting. A dark-colored van was parked in the middle of the parking lot, about 50 feet away from where he was fatally wounded.
Around 8:30 p.m., several officers loaded Reason’s body onto a gurney and into a white minivan that had driven up. As this occurred, a large crowd of onlookers reacted with anger and sadness, some yelling challenges to the officers, while others formed a circle and began reciting prayers.
Police radio traffic from Sunday evening indicates that the Richmond officer was in touch with local dispatchers within minutes of the shooting.
“The responsible is advising he’s (a police officer). Unknown from where,” a female dispatcher can be heard saying. A male voice responds, telling the dispatcher to “call me” when she finds out what agency the shooter is with.
A Vallejo police news release says that the investigation, “is in the very early stages and an update will be provided when further information is obtained.” Per Solano County protocol, all shootings involving an officer are investigated by the district attorney as well as police.
The shooting forced the closure of a section of Fairgrounds Drive for several hours, about a block in either direction from the scene.
This was Vallejo’s 12th homicide this year.
Anyone with information or who witnessed the shooting is asked to call Vallejo police Detective Scott Yates at 707-648-4533 or Detective Jason Scott at 707-648-4531.
