The California Department of Justice announced on Friday, November 13, that its investigation into the officer-involved shooting that killed Aaron Gardner in Grover Beach on May 25, 2024, concluded there is insufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges, and that no further criminal action will be taken in the case.
Source: California Department of Justice (AB 1506 release), Nov 13, 2026
“We hope that this report provides clarity to the Grover Beach community and to those personally affected by this incident,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “The California Department of Justice is committed to building a legal system that fosters transparency, trust, and accountability between law enforcement agencies and communities. We believe AB 1506 is vital in helping us achieve the goal to build a safer California.”
Source: The Golden Coast Journal, Nov 14, 2026
What happened on May 25, 2024
According to the Department of Justice account, Grover Beach Police Department officers first responded to a 911 call regarding Mr. Gardner threatening a person with a handgun, but they were unable to locate him. That first call matters to the state's review because it set what responding officers believed they were dealing with before they ever found him.
Approximately ten minutes later, a Grover Beach officer responded to a second call about Mr. Gardner throwing rocks at passing vehicles and passersby. Once located, the DOJ said, Mr. Gardner stated that he was armed, held the gun behind his back, and repeatedly ignored the officer's warnings to drop the gun. After Mr. Gardner aimed the gun at the officer, the officer fired his weapon, fatally wounding Mr. Gardner.
After the shooting, Mr. Gardner's handgun was discovered to be a plastic, Glock-style replica, the Department of Justice said. The replica is central to why the case fell under the state's AB 1506 review for shootings involving a civilian who was, in fact, unarmed with a real firearm.
The legal test the state applied
Assembly Bill 1506 requires the Department of Justice to investigate all incidents of officer-involved shootings resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in California. After its investigation, the department concluded that the evidence does not show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer involved acted without the intent to defend themselves and others from what they reasonably believed to be imminent death or serious bodily injury.
That wording is the whole decision. The state did not rule that every action that day was ideal — its report pairs the no-charges conclusion with policy criticism — it ruled that the criminal standard was not met: prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer did not act in self-defence against a reasonably perceived imminent threat, and on this record the department said that proof is not there. Therefore, it said, there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution of the officer.
Five recommendations for Grover Beach police
As it does in every AB 1506 investigation, the department examined the case for changes that could prevent a similar incident. Its first recommendation is for the Grover Beach Police Department to work with the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Communication Center to ensure dispatchers are providing critical information in their communication with responding officers. Its second is for the department to finalize its draft crisis intervention policy and provide training on that policy.
The third recommendation is additional training on when to wait for backup before engaging in a potentially high-risk encounter, such as engaging with a person who is committing battery and throwing rocks. The fourth is additional training on de-escalation tactics using time, distance and cover when approaching an armed or potentially violent subject. The fifth and last is for the department to amend its de-escalation policy and training to comply with current state law.
Why the case matters beyond one coastal city
Grover Beach is a small coastal city in San Luis Obispo County, and a state decision there would normally stay local. AB 1506 cases travel further because they test, in public, how California judges the hardest fact pattern in policing: a person who appears armed, refuses commands and points what looks like a gun — and who turns out to have held a replica. The department posted the full report with its release, saying the recommendations are intended to reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future, and that the AB 1506 process exists to provide transparency and accountability in law enforcement practices.
What happens next is not a trial — there will be none — but implementation. The five recommendations now sit with the Grover Beach Police Department and the San Luis Obispo dispatch centre: whether the draft crisis-intervention policy is finalized, whether backup and de-escalation training change, and whether dispatch practice changes will be local decisions, made after a state report that cleared the officer criminally while still finding five things his department should do differently.