Ersie Joyner, a 52-year-old retired Oakland police captain, was an in armed robbery three months ago at a Chevron gas station, which left his body riddled with 22 bullets. It was the most traumatizing experience in his life and now he says he is changed forever.
Three months later, all that really hurts now, Joyner said, is his pinky finger, which stiffens up when it gets cold.And in an extensive, exclusive interview this week with KTVU, Joyner described the most traumatizing day of his life for the first time. One that has changed his outlook forever.
But Joyner looks as dapper as ever now, looking trim and fit in a black turtleneck and smartly fitted Versace suit."I’m getting stronger," he said. "I’m almost there."On the day he was ambushed, Joyner acknowledges that he had let his guard down.He was trying to get to the Oakland airport to make a flight to Southern California for one of his consultant gigs.Joyner now consults with various police departments on how to improve their violence prevention programs.
Joyner’s compact Glock 43 was tucked on the right side of his pants. He is permitted to carry a concealed weapon, but he knew if the robbers found it, things would escalate quickly and get out of control. Joyner said he was fully cooperating with these men. He was talking slowly and calmly. But he said he realized that no matter what he did, or what he gave them, things were not going to end well. He realized his options were running out.
Joyner shot first. He fired 10 times, emptying his magazine. He said he didn't think he had a choice."I respect people having their opinions," he said. "And I don't expect everyone to agree. I don't mind being challenged. But I had exercised restraint. But in the end, after 29 years of experience, I felt that I had to protect my life." he believes. He said the doctors don’t know for sure.
The other three men – brothers Marlon Julius King and Kemandre Jacoby King and getaway driver Joshua Hayles – did not suffer any major injuries, though Joyner thinks he grazed one of them. The DA is not pursuing any charges against Joyner. To this day, police and prosecutors have said there was no prior connection with the suspects.
Clark took over ShotSpotter in 2010, at the urging of his old friend Joyner, and improved the technology and accessibility for police to know in moments when and where gunshots are being fired. Based in Oakland, ShotSpotter is now in 120 cities across the United States. Joyner says he never lost consciousness and saw Oakland police cars roll up quickly, despite not hearing any witnesses call police.
Still, Joyner was worried. He hadn’t had time to reach out to his family to tell them he loved them, and possibly say a final goodbye. "You’re going to tell them yourself," Browder told Joyner as he lay on the surgery table. "That’s the last thing I remember."Joyner stayed at Highland for nine days. He was released the day before Halloween. Ersie Joyner returns to the Chevron where he was shot on Oct. 21, 2021.
"You know, going out and using intelligence, using data to identify people who are engaged in violence and then instead of trying to use enforcement as the first tool but engaging them in a way to tell people that we care about them, we love them, we want to see them alive and free," Joyner said. "That's the way that we should move forward as a society and law enforcement."
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