Officer fired after 2 deadly Vallejo shootings hired as Broadmoor officer

BROADMOOR, Calif. - Officer Ryan McMahon, who was involved in two deadly shootings in Vallejo and fired from that department, now has a new job along the Peninsula in the small community of Broadmoor.

"A police department has trusted him with a badge and a gun and to make life and death decisions yet again," said civil rights attorney Adante Pointer.

Broadmoor police is a small force with a lot of baggage: several previous top cops have been accused of fraud and other misconduct.

McMahon was one of six officers who fired 55 shots, killing Willie McCoy in a Taco Bell drive-thru in 2019. He had fallen asleep with a gun on his lap and began moving around in his front seat before he was killed. McMahon was terminated not for his role in McCoy's death, but for firing a shot while another officer was about to be in the line of fire.

A year earlier, McMahon shot and killed Ronell Foster after he said Foster grabbed his flashlight during a struggle. Foster had been stopped for riding a bike at night without a light. The case led to a $5.7 million settlement.

Broadmoor police declined an on-camera interview Thursday. Officials said they found no "disqualifying information" while looking into the officer's background.

In a statement, the department said in part, "Officer McMahon is an experienced veteran officer who, since joining our agency, has served the Broadmoor with fairness, equality and constitutional policing."

The department recently posted several photos on social media praising McMahon for catching an alleged catalytic converter thief.

Pointer represents the families of both men killed by the officer in Vallejo. He compared the situation to the Catholic priest scandal, "where Catholic priests who had abused their position and trust were essentially circulated and allowed to carry on their campaign of terror in different parishes, sometimes big parishes, sometimes small parishes."

Gov. Newsom has signed a bill creating a process in which officers who engage in misconduct are barred from serving in another agency.

"Unfortunately, he's going to slide in underneath that law, because the law doesn't go into effect until after he's already been hired," Pointer said.

Steven Quiroz says he feels unsafe knowing that the officer is now in Broadmoor. 

Wasn't it two people that you said he shot? That's already his second - this is his third chance. That's not even like, that's not just a second chance. I feel like it's gone beyond that now," Quiroz said.