Orange tip removed. Split second decision. Is it real? Is he going to take me out? Someone thinking that they might try to intimidate someone with it? Some of the airsoft guns out there sure look like the real thing to me. I have one that’s an exact duplicate of a S&W MP40 except it’s clear and has the orange tip on it. Could it be mistaken? In the dark? YUP!
Update on Deputy Involved Shooting Investigation
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2013
TO: News Media
FROM: Lieutenant Paul J. Henry
SUBJECT: Officer Involved Shooting Investigation
On Thursday, October 24, 2013, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy of Andy Lopez Cruz. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Arthur Josselson with the Forensic Medical Group. The examination was attended by investigators from the Santa Rosa Police Department and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Final autopsy results will not be available for several weeks. The following preliminary information can be released.
There were seven apparent entry wounds discovered in the body. Two of the wounds were determined to be fatal wounds. One of the bullets that resulted in a fatal wound entered the right side of his chest. The second fatal wound was caused by a bullet entering the right hip. There were non-fatal wounds on his right wrist, left bicep, right forearm, right buttocks and right hip. Three bullets were recovered in the body.
Investigators believe that a total of eight rounds were fired at the scene. Four rounds were recovered at the scene and three rounds were recovered in the body.
The timeline for this incident is as follows:
• 1514:15 hrs – Sonoma County Sheriff’s Dispatch created an incident of a suspicious person in the area of Moorland Ave. and West Robles Ave.
• 1514:19 hrs – The Deputies call for emergency assistance from other Deputies in the area
• 1514:25 hrs – The Deputies notify dispatch that shots have been fired
• 1514:41 hrs – Emergency medical advised to respond to the scene
https://local.nixle.com/alert/5081815/
I've been following this closely since it happened about a mile from me, and has resulted in widespread protest in our (usually very calm semi-rural) area. Only one deputy fired, not the second one. (The one who didn't fire was a "trainee" for the dept but has several years' experience in law enforcement.) The entire engagement, from the time the deputies stopped the car and started shouting at the boy (from the back) to drop the gun, until they began shooting, took a grand total of ten seconds. The shots were all on the boy's right side except for one on the left bicep, I think. They *said* that as he was turning toward them, his gun barrel raised and the one deputy cut loose, fearing he was about to be shot. However, the entire thing was very rushed, and it seems to me that what may really have happened is that the boy didn't even comprehend what was going on behind him, and as he turned to see what all the commotion was (not even realizing they wanted him to drop his "weapon," which I'm sure he didn't think of as such), the deputy cut him down.
Contrary to what some people have written about this area, it is not at all rife with gang activity. There is some, but the fatalities have mostly been from Vietnamese gangs, not Latino, and they don't live in this area of town. The particular street this happened on is semi-rural and the open field he was in is a place where children frequently play, lacking a close park.
The best word I can come up with for this deputy is "hasty." I can't write the terms I'm thinking to myself here on FR.
Whether or not the gun was mistaken for a real one is not even the problem. The problem is the gunmnan decided that the boy “might” point the gun at him. By his reasoning anyone that has a gun on his person or something that might possibly be mistaken for some sort of gun is fair game and can be shot by a cop. With just a tiny stretch of that, anyone who is not naked, “might” have a gun on him which he “might” point at the bloodthirsty cop. Of course the current reality is that a police officer may shoot anyone he damn well please in any situation. The cop just has to remember to tell the next person on the scene, “I felt threatened,” and the shooting is prima facie justified. The cop then gets a well deserved extra paid vacation.