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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Martinez

On January 22, 2024, the Eureka Police Department responded to a report of a juvenile with a severe neck laceration allegedly caused by a family member, Daniel Martinez.

Martinez had barricaded himself with other occupants, including juveniles, in a residence on the 1400 block of Union Street, Eureka. EPD requested the Sheriff’s SWAT and Crisis Negotiators to the scene to assist with this critical incident. After several hours, negotiations led to the safe release of four hostages, one juvenile had a severe laceration to the neck.

All hostages were then treated for injuries and the juveniles were placed in the care of Child Welfare Services. Despite continued negotiations, Martinez refused to surrender and comply with commands. Martinez rapidly approached the law enforcement officers in a threatening manner with a large knife, leading to an officer-involved shooting. Martinez suffered mortal wounds and was pronounced dead a local hospital. 

Pursuant to state law, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is releasing body worn camera video, which captured the officer involved shooting. It should be known that all the deputies involved in the incident had cameras, however due to the length of the incident most of the batteries were depleted except for one deputy whose camera was operational during the incident. The images are at times hard to see, due to equipment and safety gear worn by the deputy and other law enforcement officers on scene.  

A total of four videos will be seen. The first video is an adult female being rescued. The 2nd and 3rd video are 3 juveniles being released, one of which was injured by the suspect.  The last video is the officer involved shooting. As a warning, some viewers may find this video disturbing and it is not suitable for children.  

The Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), led by the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, was activated to investigate this incident. Any further information related to this case should be directed to the Eureka Police Department. 

The below linked video contains graphic images and explicit language that may be disturbing to some viewers. This video is not suitable for children. Viewer discretion advised.
https://youtu.be/z93pHyXIW5E

REVIEW HCSO POLICIES: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Policy Manual

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