A CHP officer shot him 12 times. But with no body cameras, truth is elusive

The sound of more than a dozen rapid-fire gunshots sent Angela Rivera running down her street.

It was about 2:30 a.m. and moments earlier, her son had driven by while being pursued by several California Highway Patrol cruisers.

When Rivera reached the source of the gunfire, she realized her 21-year-old son Sei-Jah Rivera was mortally wounded by a dozen gunshots from a lone CHP officer. Three other officers chasing Rivera did not fire their weapons, but authorities say Rivera had pulled a gun and the shooting officer perceived he was under immediate threat.

While there is CHP dashcam footage from that morning of Feb. 26, the shooting itself isn’t captured on camera. That’s because, experts say, the CHP had, until recently, been stubbornly slow in deploying body cameras within its ranks.