Unarmed Grandma Executed by Cop with 30 Rounds as She Flew

The Stockton Police Department implemented a policy in 2019 that "usually forbids firing at fleeing automobiles." According to the department's General Orders, decisions to "fire at moving vehicles must be based on the most compelling grounds." Unarmed grandma fleeing a traffic check seems to be one of those "compelling circumstances."

Tracy Gaeta, a 54-year-old grandmother with no criminal record, looked to be suffering from mental illness on February 22 when she rear-ended a police cruiser at a red light and fled the scene. We will never know what prompted Gaeta to collide with the police cruiser that day, or what motivated her to leave since Gaeta was executed soon after the incident started by officer Kyle Ribera.

While the reason Gaeta collided with the patrol vehicle that fatal day remains a mystery, the subsequent events are fully obvious due to several video angles.

As the films demonstrate, Gaeta struck a police officer who was waiting at a red light before speeding away for unclear reasons. The officer radioed dispatch to report that the suspect was a black guy in his fifties, and a search for the suspect started.

Gaeta was discovered by cops parked on a dead-end street. Kyle Ribera, a K-9 officer, then walled her in and killed her.

Ribera jumps from his vehicle with his weapon in hand, according to a body camera video published almost two months after the event. Ribera commands Gaeta to put her "hands up!" with his weapon pointed at her.

Gaeta did not raise her hands and instead tried to drive away, but was stopped by Ribera's police cruiser. Ribera saw this behaviour as a danger to his life and opened fire.

"He's slamming me," Ribera yells as he dumps his full magazine into Gaeta's car, smashing the rear glass. Fortunately, these rounds did not instantaneously kill Gaeta, and she proceeded to leave, prompting Ribera to reload with another magazine and empty it into Gaeta's car as well.

Many of these shots would pass through the front glass, assuring the defenceless grandmother's quick demise.

"My children and I will terribly miss her," Tracy Gaeta's daughter, Tressie Gaeta, said. "I'm hoping for justice because she did not deserve to die in that manner."

According to the Stockton police department, a multi-agency investigation into Gaeta's death is now ongoing and will be completed by the District Attorney's office. However, it seems as if the department has already made up its decision. Ribera was reinstated to normal duty after a three-day paid vacation.

"The Stockton Police Department has moved rapidly to defend Officer Ribera rather than hold him responsible," Jayme Walker, an attorney for Gaeta's family, said in a statement to USA Today.

Walker said, "Nationally acknowledged norms prevent cops from shooting at moving automobiles unless the circumstances are very compelling."

As previously noted, fleeing, unarmed grandmothers seem to fulfil the criteria for compelling circumstances, and a family is now grieving the death of a "kind, caring mother and grandmother" who "always knew how to put a smile on your face."