‘No, hey, stop! Stop! Stop!’ Video shows fatal police shooting in SLO
Just before Willie Felton Foster Jr. was shot and killed by a police officer in a San Luis Obispo neighborhood on Feb. 28, a caller told 911 the gun the unhoused man had been spotted with was just a toy.
“It is not real, but I am worried somebody is going to really freak out,” the caller told dispatch in a transcript released by the SLO Police Department on Friday. “I can see it. I got up close.”
A minute later, Foster was shot by an officer as he pointed the item at the responders.
A little more than 10 minutes after that, Foster was pronounced dead at the scene and police confirmed the weapon was indeed not a real firearm.
On Friday, the San Luis Obispo Police Department released additional details and video of what occurred ahead of its pending investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The unaltered video spans more than two hours and shows the events leading up to, during and after the fatal shooting.
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‘I’m gonna light you up.’ SLO residents call 911 to report man acting erratically
In its Friday release, the Police Department said dispatch received five emergency calls for service in the Arbors neighborhood between 4:44 p.m. and 4:53 p.m. on Feb. 28.
Police said the first caller indicated a man had threatened to shoot them and their dogs while on a path by the creek.
“There is a guy that, I am not sure if it is a real gun or any kind of gun or something, he said he is going to shoot me and my dogs,” the person said in excerpts police released from the calls. “He is holding something pointing at us. I was too far away to see what it was, but he was holding it like a gun.”
Other callers described a Black man wearing dark clothing and “acting in an erratic manner with a firearm,” the release said.
One person on El Capitan Way told 911 “there is a person on the pedestrian bridge behind my house speaking loudly and possibly carrying a handgun,” according to the call excerpts.
“It looks like a real gun,” they said. “I can’t be sure but it looks like it. ... Some kind of gun in his right hand.”
A third caller told 911: “I can hear an altercation, two blocks away, male voices. I heard the phrase ‘I’m gonna light you up.’”
The fourth call, which police said came in approximately one minute before Foster was killed, was from the person who said they knew the gun he had was not real.
“There is a gentleman here. I forget his name, but I know who he is,” they said. “We are on Poinsettia and Bluebell Way. He is having a serious TPS episode, he has a toy gun with him.”
“He is kneeling on the bridge,” they said.
Video shows timeline of fatal officer-involved shooting in SLO
The timestamped in-car video first shows two police vehicles with sirens on driving up Santa Barbara Avenue and onto Broad Street at 4:51 p.m.
At 4:53 p.m., the cars turn into the Poinsettia Street neighborhood off Tank Farm Road and one of the cars turns to approach a person in a hooded jacket and carrying a paper bag walking on the sidewalk.
“That’s not him,” an officer can be heard saying. “It’s a Black male, dude.”
At 4:54 p.m., the car approaches the intersection of Bluebell Way where a man in dark clothing can be seen looking over a bridge railing. In the background, two people can also be seen standing on the corner across the street with a pair of dogs.
After the car comes to a stop, the door opens and an officer exits the vehicle and yells, “hey!”
The video shows the man then dropping to a knee and pointing what appears to be a gun at the officer.
“No, hey, stop!” the officer shouts. “Stop! Stop!”
One second later, at 4:55 p.m., the sound of a gunshot can be heard as the man falls to the ground.
“Was that you?” another officer asks. “Yeah that’s me,” the first responds.
As more people walking dogs approach around the corner, an officer can be heard yelling at them to “Back up!” and “Get out of the street!”
“He pointed it at us,” an officer can be heard saying. “Yeah I know, I saw it coming up,” another says.
Then while an officer radios for medical units, one says, “Tell them we have one down, unresponsive. Tell them it looks like it’s still in his hands.”
At 4:56 p.m., the video shows five officers, some armed with rifles and one carrying a police shield, approach Foster’s prone form and fan out around him. Two begin patting him down as two more head back to the police vehicles — one carrying Foster’s “gun.”
At that point, the police vehicle with the camera moves to the other side of the street and what is happening becomes only partially visible.
It’s unclear when they begin first aid, but an officer can be seen doing chest compressions on Foster at 4:59 p.m.
Soon more police vehicles arrive at the scene, followed at 5:02 p.m. by a SLO City Fire Department vehicle and an engine at 5:03 p.m.
The engine fully blocks the police camera’s view of the incident, so it is unclear when life-saving measures end. In its release, the Police Department said Foster was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:06 p.m.
In the rest of the two hours of footage released by the Police Department, officers can be seen walking back and forth throughout the neighborhood, taping off the street and speaking with the fire department and SLO Ambulance.
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What happens next?
The San Luis Obispo Police Department said the in-car video was released ahead of the state’s 45-day release requirement “in the interest of transparency and informing the public about a critical law enforcement incident that is very uncommon in our community.”
The Police Department said additional video and records will be released as they become available as required by law.
The city is also reviewing all incident records “and will make any redactions required to protect the privacy of Mr. Foster, his family, the 911 callers and/or witnesses to the incident, and to ensure that nothing released will interfere with the independent investigation of the incident being conducted by the California Department of Justice,” the release said.
In a news release Monday, the Attorney General’s Office said the Department of Justice’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team began a routine investigation after learning about the San Luis Obispo incident.
Once that investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section for review, the agency said.
The Police Department previously said the officer involved in the incident was placed on administrative leave per department policy. It was unclear how long that officer would be on leave as of Saturday.
A request for additional information from the Police Department was not immediately returned as of Saturday morning.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or need help finding mental health resources, call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607.
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 9:51 AM.
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