Freeze now. Get on YOUR KNEES, NOW. >> I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A CASE that's still in court. In February 2022, Pittsburgh, California, a small city about 40 miles east of San Francisco, a man checks into the Hampton Inn on California Avenue. His name is Ashton Porter. He's 45 years old. He's a long way from home. He lives in Alpharetta, Georgia. Around 12:30 in the afternoon, hotel staff hear something coming from his room, glass breaking, furniture being thrown. They call the police. By the time officers get there, Porter has locked himself inside. He's pushed all the furniture against the door. He's barricaded. The next thing that happens is the most important thing in this entire case. His family shows up at the hotel. They tell the officers what's actually happening. Ashton is in the middle of a mental health crisis. He needs help. He needs a hospital. He doesn't need to be arrested. He needs to be talked down. The police listen. They call in the crisis intervention team, officers who are specifically trained for situations like this. They bring in mental health professionals from Contra Costa County. For the next 12 hours, those professionals do what they're trained to do. They talk to him through the door. They get on the phone with family. They try to bring him out. 20 hours after the first 911 call, Ashton Porter walks out of that hotel room. Here is the footage from that day. Let's look at what happened. >> 911 >> Hi, can I call from the Hampton Inn in Pittsburgh and we need some police to come down here. We have a guest that is um basically not opening his door and at the same time he's you can hear that there's clearly glass being broken and he's also screaming and placing things in front of the door. >> Okay, give me 1 second. Did he call? >> Yes, I'm on the phone. Can you um >> What room is it? What room number? >> Yeah, he's he's screaming help. Uh 421. >> He is the one screaming for help? >> Yes. >> He's in there by himself? >> Yes. >> Is that him? >> Yes. All right, we're with you, ma'am. We're we're taking care of it. Thank you. >> Do you know Do you guys know what's wrong with him? >> Um at this moment, no. Um we have some of his family members here and we're um we just need um the assistance. >> Okay, yeah, we're going to get somebody out there. I have a few more questions for you, okay? Did he want to open the door? No, they said he was in the room. Is this Hey, are you uh Were you with him yesterday? Did you try to take him to get uh >> To the hospital. >> To the hospital and he took off? >> Yeah. >> Did you call the police yesterday? >> Yeah, we we went to the hospital with the kid. Went to hospital. >> Help! >> I know. Can you come down? >> No! >> Can you come to the >> Somebody's trying TO GET ME! NO! PLEASE! YEAH. >> What do you mean by somebody trying to get him? >> He he has a psychotic break. >> Yeah. >> He's he's psychotic like that the whole time. He's thinking like, you know, >> He's paranoid. >> Mhm. >> He's thinking government's trying to get him and that type of whole situation. >> No! >> Hey. >> No! >> Hey, it's Officer Fernandez from the Pittsburgh Police Department. >> Who? >> Officer Fernandez, Arturo. >> Arturo? >> Yeah. >> Who is Arturo? >> I'm with the Pittsburgh Police Department. >> Okay. >> And I understand you needed some help. >> I don't need any help. >> Uh I thought you you just said you needed some medical help. >> No. >> No? >> I'm fine. >> Okay. Hey, listen. Uh what's going on today, man? >> I need some time. >> Well, to process what? What's going on? >> I need some time. People are trying to kill me. >> Okay. Why do you think that? >> I don't want to talk right now. Please. >> All right. Well, are you okay? >> Yes. >> Are your hands hurting? >> No, I'm fine. Please. >> Okay. What happened with the uh with the lamps going through the window? >> I don't want to talk right now. Please. >> Okay. >> minute, please. >> Yeah, I I I'm willing to give you all the time you need, man. You just got to let me know what's going on. Tell me what's going on. Tell me what's going on. I'm about to sit down here by the door and listen to you. >> Huh? >> I'm about to sit down by the door and listen to you and have a conversation. That's it. Is that all right with you? >> Yeah. >> All right. So, I'm sitting down right here. Hello. Hello. So, do you want to talk to him through the door? >> Yes. >> All right. >> I just wanted to introduce myself to you. I'm a therapist. I work with mental health. >> I need a therapist. >> You need a therapist? >> Did >> don't need a therapist. >> You don't need a therapist. Okay. Cuz it sounds like you don't feel safe right now. >> I don't. >> Okay, can you tell me what's making you feel afraid? I don't think there's really an easy way to explain this to you, but I'm going to try, okay? >> Okay. >> So, your family called because they were really concerned about you. Um Yeah, and I'm sorry, say that again? >> I want to hear the real story. >> I I'm going to tell you the real story, and if there's a part of it that you don't you don't feel I'm being honest about, you let me know. So, your family was really concerned um because they said they tried to take you to the hospital yesterday, and that you left. And so, they were able to find out that you were here at the hotel, and tried to come see if they could convince you to go to the hospital again. And when you weren't willing to go, they called us. And when we got here, you were locked in your room, and you haven't really wanted to come out. >> Okay, so here's what's happening. The police arrived at the Hampton Inn that afternoon. They did almost everything right. They contained the room. They talked through the door. They called the family back to the scene. They called in their own crisis intervention team. They brought in county mental health professionals who specialize in exactly this kind of situation. From an investigator's eye, that's textbook. A man in acute mental health crisis is not a criminal in that moment. He's a patient who's also a danger to himself and possibly others. You don't arrest your way out of a mental health emergency. You de-escalate. For the first 12 hours of the standoff, that's what was happening. He was suicidal. The team on scene knew it. They were trying to save him. In the next part of the footage, you're going to see what happens when a man who has spent 20 hours in a sealed room finally opens the door. You're going to see Officer Ernesto Mejia make a decision in less than 2 seconds. And then you're going to see the moment that 2 years later will be at the center of a federal lawsuit. Watch the hallway carefully. These cases don't close. >> Where we at, man? Where we at? >> I'm going to the bathroom. >> You're not moving the stuff. >> Sir, I didn't move the stuff. >> No. No, you're moving the stuff to come out and that knife is getting dropped. You're not doing that. Hey, this is about to get a whole lot worse for you, man. Any point in time you want to listen to what I've been trying to tell you. We're going to make sure that you come out and everything's safe and I can make you a lot more comfortable. But the longer you don't listen to me, the worse it's going to get for you. You understand? I've been nothing but honest with you. So, I'm telling you right now. >> I know, but I don't feel safe. >> Well, the only safety you've got is listening to me. What you're doing right now clearly ain't working for you. So, if you want to start doing what I'm telling you to do, you're going to be a hell of a lot safer and a hell of a lot more comfortable. >> I was thinking let me catch my breath. >> No. >> Can I catch my breath? >> No. You can start moving or you can drop that knife. Those are your only two options. >> The knife is on the ground. >> No. The knife needs to be on the ground out here in the hallway. >> All right, let me get Leave me alone. >> You can reach around the door and drop it on the ground. You can reach through that hole and drop it on the ground. But until I'm seeing it out here in the hallway, we have nothing further to discuss. >> All right, stop. What are you doing? >> [snorts] >> Step over. When you come over, put your hands in the air. Get down on the ground. >> Get on the ground. >> Get on your knees now. Get on YOUR KNEES NOW. SHOTS FIRED. SHOTS FIRED. SHOTS FIRED. ONE DOWN. >> Where's the knife? Where's the knife? Where's the knife? >> Knife is down here. >> I don't see it. Where is it? >> HEY, IF YOU TOUCH IT, YOU BETTER NOT OR I'LL SHOOT YOU. >> All right, stand by. Stand by. Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. Hey, guys. Over to his left. >> To his left? >> Hey, do you feel Do you feel okay? >> I'm going to leave it in there. >> Do you need a shield kit? Do you need a shield kit? Do you need a shield kit? Get the suspect up here. >> I'm right here. >> I need my backpack. >> Where's my backpack? >> Hey, backpack. Give me the backpack. >> All right. So, Ashton Porter walks out of the room. In his hand, he is holding a knife. Officer Ernesto Mejia fires twice, and in that moment, Porter goes down. Police drag him into the elevator and take him down to the lobby. He survived. He was transported to the hospital, treated, and then taken to jail. Charged with five counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, one count of felony vandalism, one count of criminal trespass. Bail set at $430,000. That's where this case ended as far as the public was concerned. Then, in 2024, Ashton Porter filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Police Department. And the lawsuit makes two claims I want you to sit with. The first claim, Lieutenant Hatcher dismissed the mental health team from the scene without explanation, took over all communications with Porter himself, and made the decision to use force over de-escalation during what everyone on scene knew was a mental health crisis. The second claim, and this is the one that matters most, Officer Mejia told Internal Affairs investigators that Porter was, quote, "sprinting down the hallway with the knife when he shot him." The lawsuit alleges that the body camera footage does not support that version of events. The case is still open in federal court. This is Gray File TV.