Morgan Hill, California, police responded to a disturbance call at a Safeway on April 18, 2025, when staff reported a man walking around the store with a large kitchen knife and a wine bottle. Identified as 40-year-old Shaun Hillman, he was refusing to leave.

What followed was revealed in the surveillance footage and bodycam video. The officers evacuated the store to prevent anyone from getting injured while Hillman walked through the store with a weapon. The overhead surveillance video showed he attacked an employee with the wine bottle.

At that time, police approached Hillman with a non-lethal weapon and asked him to drop the knife. He did not comply, and several officers had to chase him around the store. He ran down the wine aisle and threw bottles at the officers. 

 

Officers used a taser on him; however, it did not help as Hillman grabbed a store display and charged at the officer. That’s when the officer opened fire at Hillman, and the bullet hit him in the leg. The first shot was missed, but another one hit him. Despite being shot, he was not ready to give up.

He was ultimately taken into custody and given medical aid before he was taken to the hospital. Hillman was charged with multiple felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. The investigation also revealed an employee was hit in the head by the attacker, and he also took the victim’s box cutter.

After the incident, there was a use-of-force review with the help of the bodycam videos. A former San Jose police officer and law enforcement consultant noted, “A very calm officer reacted appropriately, with the sole exception that the store should’ve been evacuated immediately. You could have had a hostage barricade situation. The blade on that knife was eight inches long. It could’ve ended in a much, much worse manner than it did.”

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Leininger concluded the use of a weapon was justified and pointed out the officer took too long to escalate, maybe because the store wasn’t fully evacuated. He added, “The suspect is fortunate he was only hit in the leg. But if the officer had used deadly force, it would have been a justifiable shooting.”

The bodycam video quickly went viral across social media. Many viewers appreciated the police officer, as one wrote, “Wow, they shot him and kept him alive. That’s actually impressive.” In many such encounters, use of lethal force becomes necessary and may kill the assailant. Such cases draw criticism claiming excessive use of force.

However, in this case the accused survived with a non-life-threatening injury. Another Instagram user commented, “I love our cops.” One more posted, “Reviewing use of force? Why? That guy is lucky even to be alive!”

Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public video record.