Police Footage of Encounter That Killed Daniel Ruiz Killed in Bakersfield Released

Weeks After Officers Shot and Killed Daniel James Ruiz on Pacheco Road, Police Release an Edited Video

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA (November 13, 2026) – A 23-year-old father identified as Daniel Ruiz was killed in a police shooting on Pacheco Road in Bakersfield.

Kern County officials are saying that the shooting occurred around 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14. Daniel Ruiz and a 16-year-old boy were in the 1000 block of Pacheco Road, near Monitor Street, when Bakersfield police officers tried to contact them during what the department described as a traffic stop, KGET reported.

The department said in a video that the two matched descriptions of suspects in an earlier shooting in east Bakersfield. Both ran from officers, and one allegedly threw a beverage at a patrol car’s windshield.

According to the department, officers saw Ruiz reach for his waistband. Three officers opened fire, and Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene despite medical aid from officers.

No officers were injured, and the three officers were placed on routine administrative leave. The 16-year-old surrendered to police on October 20, according to KBAK.

At a vigil the day after the shooting, Ruiz’s older sister told KGET that he left behind a daughter who was the center of his life.

The video released on November 10 was edited and produced by the department, and its body camera footage is brief, with muted sections and blurred visuals, according to KGET. California’s public records law treats recordings of police shootings as public and generally requires their release within 45 days, which raises the question of whether full footage from all three officers will be made available.

In August, the California Department of Justice urged the department to improve training on deadly force against fleeing suspects, on muting body camera audio, and on activating cameras in the field after reviewing a separate 2022 shooting. The department has also operated since 2021 under a stipulated judgment that followed a state investigation into its use of force. Whether those reforms shaped how officers approached two people on foot that night remains an open question.

Liability for Bakersfield Police Shootings

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable seizures, and courts treat a police shooting as a seizure that must be objectively reasonable. California sets a stricter rule in Penal Code section 835a, which allows deadly force only when an officer reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that it is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury, or to stop certain fleeing persons. It also directs officers to use other available techniques when reasonably safe and feasible. Families of people killed by police may bring federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, along with state claims such as negligence and wrongful death. These cases often turn on a few key questions:

• Imminent threat: Investigators examine whether the person posed an immediate danger at the moment shots were fired.
• Fleeing suspects: State law sharply limits when deadly force may be used against someone who is running away.
• Tactical choices: How officers approached, positioned themselves, and communicated before the shooting can affect whether force was reasonable.
• Warnings given: Where feasible, officers are expected to identify themselves and warn that force may be used.
• Physical evidence: Body camera footage, ballistics, and forensic evidence often decide whose account of a shooting holds up.

California’s highest court has made clear that what happens before shots are fired also matters. In Hayes v. County of San Diego, decided in 2013, sheriff’s deputies went to a home after a neighbor reported screaming and learned that the man inside, Shane Hayes, was suicidal. Hayes was shot and killed after he walked toward the deputies holding a knife, and his daughter later sued. The California Supreme Court held that officers’ tactical conduct and decisions leading up to a use of deadly force are relevant in deciding whether that force gives rise to negligence liability. That principle lets families examine an entire encounter, not just its final seconds.

Police Shootings and the Right to See the Evidence

According to the California Department of Justice’s 2025 use of force report, 633 civilians statewide were involved in incidents that year involving a firearm discharge or force that caused serious bodily injury or death. Every law enforcement agency in California must report those incidents to the state each year. Behind each number is a family trying to piece together a single moment, and they often need to know where to look. Records that can help explain a police shooting include:

• Camera footage: Body-worn and dashboard camera recordings can show an encounter from several angles, including moments an edited release leaves out.
• Dispatch audio: 911 calls and radio traffic can reveal what officers were told before they made contact.
• Autopsy reports: The coroner’s findings document the number and path of wounds, which can be compared with officers’ accounts.
• Forensic analysis: Shell casing locations, bullet trajectories, and weapon testing can confirm or contradict how events were described.
• Witness accounts: Neighbors and bystanders may have seen or recorded parts of an encounter that police cameras missed.

Transparency after a police shooting serves everyone, including officers who acted lawfully. Edited briefings are a starting point, not a full record, and independent review of complete evidence is often the only way to settle lingering questions. Families of people killed by police have the right to seek a full accounting of what happened and to hold officers and agencies accountable when the law was not followed. Those rights exist no matter what someone is accused of doing before an encounter.

Investigating Police Shootings in Bakersfield

We at Feher Law send our deepest sympathy to the family and young daughter of Daniel Ruiz. We hope a full and transparent review brings accountability and leads to practices that prevent similar deaths in Bakersfield. This incident raises serious safety concerns about how police encounters with people on foot can escalate within seconds. Will the complete, unedited footage from every officer’s camera be released so the public can judge what happened?

Has a police shooting in Bakersfield or elsewhere in Kern County taken someone you love? California law places firm limits on when officers may use deadly force, and families have every right to ask whether those limits were respected. Early accounts of a shooting usually come from the department involved, often in the form of an edited video and a brief narrative. Our team of safety advocates and accident investigators can help you understand what happened, from unedited body camera footage and dispatch recordings to forensic reports and witnesses who saw the encounter. If you need answers about your rights or support of any kind, we are ready to help day or night at (424) 433-4412.