Officials yesterday released the autopsy of 19-year-old Dylan Noble, who, on June 25, was shot dead by Fresno police. According to ABC 7, the teen had alcohol and a substance associated with cocaine in his system — factors which may have partially contributed to Noble's refusal to follow police commands before his death at a Chevron gas station.
The autopsy, released by the Fresno County Sheriff Coroner's Office, states that Noble had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 and small amounts of benzoylecgonine — which the channel refers to as "the primary component of cocaine" — in his system at the time of his death.
"We knew he had been consuming alcohol, we just didn't know what level it would be or how much alcohol he consumed," Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno Police Department told ABC 7.
And while that may partially explain why Noble was supposedly acting strangely after being pulled over, it doesn't shed light on why police shot the teen, who mostly kept his hands at his waist. The Los Angeles Times reports that officers believed Noble was armed, and opened fire when he refused to drop an object that officers say they believed was a weapon — it was a clear plastic box.
Also, sadly, some of Noble's last words, likely because he was getting pulled over for what was not the first time and would face some serious trouble, were "I fucking hate my life," which officers on the scene allegedly interpreted to mean he was suicidal. An attorney representing Noble's family told the local ABC affiliate, "[That] doesn't mean you wanna die, it means you are kind of caught in a bad situation. He's pulled over, he's facing officers, he's thinking I'm going to get a DUI, and that might explain the comment."
The fact that officers continued to shoot Noble even after he fell to the ground has outraged his friends and family. His father, Darren Noble, said the police were "trigger-happy."
"Could they really think that this young man can reach into his waistband after he's already been hit, take aim at officers with guns trained on him-- that's preposterous," observed Stuart Chandler, an attorney representing Noble's mother.
The Fresno County district attorney’s office is investigating the shooting, and the results of that probe are expected by the end of the month.
Related: 15 Years Of Officer-Involved Shootings In SF, By The Numbers