Family Wants Answers After Fatal Santa Barbara Police Shooting
It’s been two days since a police shooting left 46-year-old Brian Tacadena dead and his family wants answers.
His cousin Frank Tacadena and his aunt Katie Tacadena spoke exclusively to KEYT NewsChannel 3 Tuesday night. Frank Tacadena said he doesn’t know how his cousin ended up on De La Vina and Victoria with a knife.
But he doesn’t thinkTacadena deserved to be shot multiple times. Katie Tacadena said she was supposed to pick her nephew up in Santa Maria but he never showed up.
They learned he had called his 17-year-old daughter in Santa Barbara and may have decided to go and see her. Although he kept in touch by phone, relatives said they hadn’t seen him in years.
They said he was released from a jail in San Jose after serving time on drug charges and parole violations.
Neighbors said they heard police tell him to drop the knife before they heard gunfire. Police said they only use less than lethal force when a someone is not armed.
The family’s current grief is a reminder of another loss suffered in 2006,when Frank Tacadena’s father was shot and killed in Santa Barbara. The investigation in that case led to the conviction of his father’s killer.
Relatives hope a thorough investigation will help them understand why another family members was shot and killed.
