Willie McCoy

Willie McCoy, 20, a local rapper, was shot and killed by six Vallejo, California police officers who fired 55 rounds at him in 3.5 seconds on February 9, 2019, after he was found asleep behind the wheel of his car in a Taco Bell drive-thru with a handgun in his lap. Officers surrounded the vehicle; when McCoy stirred awake, they said he reached for the gun, and all six opened fire, striking him roughly 25 times. The Solano County District Attorney recused her office, and a special prosecutor concluded in January 2021 that all six officers acted in lawful self-defense. An independent use-of-force report commissioned by the city separately found the shooting “reasonable and necessary,” though the police chief internally recommended firing one of the six officers for unsafe firearm handling that endangered his colleagues — the only consequence any officer faced. No one has ever been criminally charged in McCoy's death.

Vallejo, CA · Solano County

• 2019: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The welfare-check call, the 55 shots fired in 3.5 seconds, and McCoy's death, per an independent use-of-force report commissioned by the City of Vallejo and body camera footage released by police.
• McCoy had a stolen handgun in his lap when officers arrived; police said he reached for it when he woke up, prompting the six officers to open fire.
• Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams recused her office from the case; special prosecutor Michael Ramos, a former San Bernardino County district attorney, concluded in January 2021 that all six officers were legally justified.
• An independent use-of-force report, prepared by a consultant retained by the city, found the officers' actions “objectively reasonable and necessary.”
• Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams internally recommended firing Officer Ryan McMahon in March 2020, finding his firearm handling during the shooting endangered other officers on scene and violated department policy; McMahon had also fatally shot another man, Ronell Foster, in 2018 without facing discipline.
• McMahon was formally fired in 2020 — the only disciplinary consequence any of the six officers faced, and unconnected to any criminal charge.

• Whether McCoy was in fact reaching for the gun, versus simply waking up disoriented, was disputed by the family's attorney, who called the response “overkill” and “unnecessary,” and has never been resolved by any criminal proceeding.
• Why six officers firing 55 rounds at a man seated in a parked car was found reasonable by both the special prosecutor and the city's own hired use-of-force expert, when McCoy's family disputed that characterization, has not been reconciled.
• The same use-of-force expert who reviewed this shooting had also found the officers justified in the unrelated fatal shooting of Stephon Clark, a pattern the family's attorney publicly questioned.

• NBC News — “Vallejo police fired 55 shots at Willie McCoy in 3.5 seconds”
• KTVU — “No charges against Vallejo cops in deadly shooting”
• The Guardian, via Yahoo News — “Vallejo police chief recommended firing officer involved in Willie McCoy shooting”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs