Posted on 07/06/2005 2:45:11 PM PDT by radar101
When veteran San Diego police Officer Phillip Bozarth shot and killed a 24-year-old man June 25, it marked the fifth person he has killed on the job in his 20-year career, police confirmed yesterday
The four other shootings were ruled legal and justified – and the latest involving the death of Ricardo Morales Carbajal remains under investigation.
"We don't want to see a sixth," said Mary Powers, national coordinator for the National Coalition for Police Accountability.
Despite being what some might consider a cowboy cop, San Diego police officials call Bozarth one of the department's best officers.
Bozarth, 42, is a respected field training officer and works the front lines, usually in high-crime areas, his colleagues say. After the latest incident, Bozarth was assigned to administrative duties.
"He is an excellent and tenacious officer, a compassionate, caring man with a stellar record and a strong work ethic," said Executive Assistant Chief Bill Maheu.
Bozarth's most recent fatal shooting involved a man he found asleep in the driver's seat of a car parked on Island Avenue in Stockton, in front of his estranged wife's house, about 4 a.m. June 25.
Police said the man grabbed a gun from the passenger's seat after the officer tapped on the car. Bozarth, fearing for his safety, fired several shots at the man.
A news release said the officer then tried to retreat to a safe position as the man stepped out of the car.
"Unable to see the suspect's right hand, which was concealed behind his right leg, the officer fired several more rounds at the suspect," the release said. "The suspect walked to the passenger side of the patrol vehicle and collapsed."
He was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. A handgun was found on the car seat, police later said.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
"Unable to see the suspect's right hand, which was concealed behind his right leg, the officer fired several more rounds at the suspect," the release said. " He was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. A handgun was found on the car seat, police later said.
I don't see anything there cut and dried. I have a gun in my car. Does that make me a target to be killed? Hell he may not have had a gun for all we know. All I know is 5 people are dead. All may be justified and probably are, but when someone is piling up a body count like that you have to take a second look.
If they do transfer him he needs to be training officers to shoot, given the LA polish firing squad action his skills need to be communicated.
My point was the man was unarmed at the time he was shot. The officer shot him, apparently, because he couldn't see his hand.
Amen - There are a lot of question here that need to be answered.
"The big question? Did the suspect know he was a cop when woke up?"
Unfortunately, that question can never be answered.....
"But I think the question remains, if he is on duty, in uniform, what is he doing at his estranged wife's house?"
That was my take the first read through of this poorly written article also, but after re-reading the article it appears that it was the deceased's estranged wife's house not the cop's estranged wife's house......
His dept knew the answer to that within an hour of the shooting. I'd still bet he was not in uniform, and this would make all the difference in the world in this latest shooting. It's amazing the author of this report didn't have the brains to ask/inquire about this. It should have been one of his first questions when learning of the circumstances.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.