Fatal shooting of 'Tarzan' actor Ron Ely's son by police determined to be a 'justifiable homicide'

Officials ruled that the 2019 shooting death of “Tarzan" actor Ron Ely’s son, Cameron, by police was a “justifiable homicide.”

The incident occurred in October 2019 after police were called to the family’s home and discovered that Ron’s wife, Valerie, 62, had been stabbed to death by their son. Sometime later, Cameron approached officers on the property and they shot him to death after they were led to believed he had a weapon and intended to harm them.

The Santa Barbara District Attorney released a detailed analysis of the shooting that sheds new light on why officers felt reasonably threatened by Cameron. The responders say they arrived at the scene to find Valerie dead and Ron, who is confined to a wheelchair and has a medical condition that makes it difficult for him to speak, alive.

Officers conducted a search of the property before sending Ron to a nearby hospital. As investigators were continuing to search, they suddenly came upon Cameron, who was covered in blood and had an apparent wound on his neck as he approached officers, according to the District Attorney's report.

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“Initially Ely acted as if he were going to comply with the commands; however, as Ely got to the ground, he suddenly sprang to his feet and while bending at the waist, he reached toward his waistband while simultaneously saying, ‘I have a gun!’” the report reads. “Fearing that Ely was drawing a gun to shoot and kill or injure the deputies, all four deputies fired their service weapons striking Ely multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”

An autopsy would later determine that Cameron was shot 22 times in his torso, neck, back, buttocks and arms. Police noticed that he was wearing sweatpants with a bulge in one of the pockets that was nearly pulling them down, leading them to believe his claim of having a gun was legitimate.

What officers ultimately found after searching Cameron was that he was unarmed. Instead, they found him in possession of “a metal garden hose tap splitter, a stack of playing cards, small rocks, a car key fob, an iPhone, crumpled papers, a bank card, a little plastic bag with a white powdery substance that later tested positive for cocaine, and a small plastic bottle labeled liquid vitamins."

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“All four deputies reported that they feared Ely had a weapon until the point they handcuffed him, turned him onto his back, and pat searched him," the report continues. "The medics arrived very quickly because they had been staging on the street by the top of the driveway. Medics pronounced Ely dead on-scene."

The shooting was ultimately ruled a “justified homicide.”

“Under these circumstances, Ely’s actions coupled with the deputies’ beliefs that Ely had recently brutally stabbed Valerie to death, caused [the officers] to reasonably believe that Ely was going to kill or seriously injure one or more of the deputies,” the report concludes. “They reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to respond to the threat Ely posed to them. Thus, the deputies’ use of force in firing at Ely was a reasonable use of deadly force."

The determination comes shortly after Ron sued the police department for the wrongful death of his wife and son. According to court documents obtained by Fox News, he alleges that first responders failed to act quickly enough to provide his wife with medical treatment that might have saved her life.

Furthermore, the television star alleges that officers had no legal justification for the shooting, arguing that Cameron did not make a threatening gesture to police and was complying with their commands.

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Ron played the title character on the NBC series "Tarzan," which ran from 1966 to 1968. He was also featured on “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island.” He hosted the Miss America pageant in 1980 and 1981, which is where he met his wife Valerie, a former Miss Florida.