Felon Jose Vaca Gets Shot By Police ‘Testing Theory’ About Police Brutality

Jose Vaca claims he was just testing a theory about police brutality when he was shot by police.

Jose Vaca Claims He Was Just Testing Police Brutality

Bakersfield,California – Jose Vaca was shot 9 times by police during a traffic stop after approaching the officer, while holding a rifle, to test theory about police brutality.

Jose Vaca, 29, is a convicted felon and is currently in Kern County jail where he provided an exclusive interview with KBAK/KBFS News from behind bars about being shot by a Bakersfield police officer.

On December 19, 2016 Jose Vaca was in East Bakersfield driving down Oswell Street with a friend when he was pulled over by a Bakersfield police officer. Jose Vaca had a semi-automatic rifle in the car that he recently bought at an auction, despite being a convicted felon. Vaca said he knew it was illegal for him to have a firearm, but he decided to exit his vehicle with the rifle during the traffic stop.

Jose Vaca was quoted in the interview saying, “I come to the front of the police vehicle, and I put (the) butt of the rifle on the (ground), and I just, like, put my hand up.” Officer Christian Hernandez open fired on Jose Vaca shooting him nine times according to the police report. Jose Vaca disputes the number of times he was shot though, saying the officer shot him 12 times, although nine bullets were found inside Vaca’s body.

Vaca was transported to Kern Medical where he received treatment until he was transferred to Kern County Jail.

Vaca dismissed the notion that he was attempting to commit “suicide by cop.” With no other logical explanations to conclude from Vaca’s actions, some were left puzzled why he would exit and approach the officer while holding a semi-automatic rifle.

Vaca then offered the following explanation in the interview, “I told my friend one day that I wanted her to believe all police officers are good.” Vaca explained that several months ago his friend’s husband had been killed by police. Vaca explained that this conversation came to mind as soon as he was being pulled over by police.

“First thing that came to my mind is I’m already going to get pulled over. I know they’re most likely going to take me in, but I’m going to need to try my theory real quick and see that it’s true, so she can believe there is good officers in the world,” said Jose Vaca.

In hindsight Vaca admits that his “experiment” was misguided when he said it “wasn’t worth it,” though he did say it did “open my eyes to realize life is such a blessing.”

Given all that he went though, Vaca still maintained a positive disposition of police when he was asked if he thought they were good cops. “Yeah, because they didn’t know what to expect,” said Vaca.

Let us know what you think about Jose Vaca’s attempt to test his police theory/experiment in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.

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