A 28-year-old man showed his handguns to multiple patrons at a Riverside restaurant before the owner called police, eventually leading to one of the officers shooting and injuring the man, according to a critical incident video that police released Saturday, July 26.
The owner of Shindigs Country Kitchen Bar & Stage, 8845 Trautwein Rd., near Van Buren Boulevard and west of the 215 Freeway, called police around 7:10 p.m. on May 8 and reported a man who was intoxicated and had shown two handguns in his waistband to multiple bar patrons, said Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez.
Isaac Ambriz, 28, Santa Ana, was carrying two 40-caliber handguns, which had 23 total rounds of ammunition, Gonzalez said.
Shindigs’ owner escorted the man to his silver Toyota RAV4. After driving around the parking lot for a few minutes, Gonzalez said Ambriz returned to the restaurant, and the owner locked the doors before calling police.
The owner told a dispatcher that Ambriz wasn’t threatening customers, but at one point had placed one of the handguns on a counter before retrieving it, according to a recording of the 911 call. The owner later asked him to leave.
“He’s not acting like confrontational,” the owner told a 911 dispatcher. “He’s really nice to me. Like, I’m not, like, trying to say this guy’s acting like he’s threatening us. He’s just drunk and happened to have a gun with him.”
Police and air support responded and found Ambriz outside his vehicle. Security footage shared by police shows Ambriz stumbling away from his vehicle before walking back with his hands raised once he saw officers.
As Ambriz walks toward the driver’s side rear door, he appears to reach for his waistband with his right hand while his left hand stays raised, according to security footage. Police later learned that the Shindigs’ owner placed one of the guns in the back seat on the driver’s side after Ambriz had dropped it.
Body-worn camera footage shared by police shows at least two officers pull up on motorcycles. One of the officers commands Ambriz through a PA system multiple times to stay outside his vehicle and get on the ground.
The officer says that Ambriz was reaching for his waistband before firing two shots at him, the footage shows.
The footage cuts to officers handcuffing Ambriz, who is laid out on the ground. They then retrieve an empty holster from his waistband.
Ambriz was taken to a hospital with a head injury. Two days later, he was released and booked on firearms-related charges and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
Ambriz was released on $10,000 bail.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the shooting.