KCSO releases bodycam footage of officer-involved shooting in Onyx

• An officer-involved shooting left Onyx resident Austin Spranger dead after KCSO officers were called to his mother’s property to try to get him out.
• The shooting took place on August 5, 2024.
• KCSO reports that two officer-involved shootings occurred in 2023. Three cases have been reported so far in 2024.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE MISSION:

Kern County Sheriff’s officers arrived at an Onyx residence on Melody Lane on the morning of August 5 after the property owner called 911 and stated that she believed her son, 25-year-old Austin Springer, was on her property.

She stated that she had obtained a restraining order against him.

“Every time he comes, he’s very calm,” said Willa Davis, an Onyx resident who knew Springer and was nearby when the shooting occurred. “I’ve never seen him get overly agitated with the police or anything like that.”

Officers attempted to locate Springer and remove him from the property.

They concluded that he was in a trailer on the property.

After officers attempted to make contact with Springer from outside the trailer, they cut the cord securing the trailer door and attempted to enter.

Then Springer came to the door with what looked like a gun in his hand and the officers backed away.

“I walked to the bus and heard a shot, a single shot,” Davis recalled.

An officer shot Springer once, and then Springer retreated into the trailer while officers called for backup.

According to KCSO, Springer aimed this weapon at the officers; it was a CO2-powered air rifle.

“Then the cars came with the dogs, then the robot came, then the sheriff came with a cowboy hat. There were a lot of police there,” Davis said.

Using a drone and armor, the KCSO gained access to the trailer and learned that Springer had died from the gunshot wound.

“It’s heartbreaking. And he was so young that this happened to him,” Davis said.

KCSO convened an incident investigation commission, which found that officers’ conduct was consistent with regulations.

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