On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at approximately 10:10 a.m., several City of Hemet Police Department officers were reportedly investigating a recent theft at a home on South Harvard Street in the City of Hemet. The Drye’s family home is on the parallel South State Street. The backyard of the Drye house is adjoined by a fence to the backyard of the house the police were searching.
Christian Drye was home with his wife and one of their five children at the time. Mr. Drye was not the suspect of any crime and was not involved in the officers’ investigation on Harvard Street. While in his own backyard, Mr. Drye was shot and killed by a Hemet Police Department officer without warning. Mr. Drye was not a threat to the officers. This shooting should never have happened.
Christian Drye is survived by his wife and their five minor children, his mother, and his sister. Mr. Drye’s family and their community mourn his death in the wake of this horrific incident.
“My husband was my soul mate. He meant the world to me and his children. He was a loving and devoted husband and father. Chris could walk into a room and make the quietest person feel special. On the days I was sad or upset, he would make a joke and it felt like the world was better. He made me feel safe and loved and I could never have imagined my life without him. On the day he was killed my world was crushed and flipped upside down. The agony and pain the Hemet Police Department has inflicted on our family is unimaginable. Now, he will not walk his daughters down the aisle or watch them go to their prom. He will not be able to bond with his son as his father did with him. HPD didn’t just take one life they took many. We will never be the same.”
~Shameka Drye~
“My son was so funny and smart. He was not only my caregiver, he was one of my best friends. We had a unique and special friendship, everything a parent could hope for when their son becomes a man. The people who knew my son adored him and loved him. We relied on Chris for so much. I needed him, his kids needed him. Hemet PD stole the life of a devoted father, son, and husband. They took my oldest, my baby boy, my son.”
~Dannie-Ann Connor~
“Christian’s loss is unfathomable. He was killed in the prime of his life in a police shooting that was completely unjustifiable. We look forward to getting justice for the Drye family.”
~Trent C. Packer~
“We believe the use of deadly force by a Hemet Police Department officer violated Christian Drye’s Constitutional rights and that the officers’ poor tactics and training played a part in this unjustifiable use of deadly force. There seems to be a pattern of police excessive force and a pattern of Hemet not taking action to improve officer training and discipline officers who abuse their authority. It is our hope that we will be able to help the Drye family find closure and begin to heal, and to achieve justice for Christian. Our hearts are broken for these five wonderful children whose lives will never be the same.”
~Dale K. Galipo~
Lead counsel, Dale K. Galipo, has prevailed in over 50 jury trials and has obtained over 100 seven-figure verdicts and settlements in the last eleven years. Mr. Galipo has been awarded CAALA 2020 Trial Lawyer of the Year and CAOC 2020 Consumer Attorney of the Year. As an active member of The Inner Circle of Advocates and as a Fellow of The American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Galipo has gone to trial and won more cases against the police than any other attorney in the country.
Read the full press release here.
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