Detective Wounded - Parolee Killed

[Willowdared]

Officers kill parolee in gunbattle; detective wounded

By Pauline Repard and David E. Graham
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
10:11 p.m. August 7, 2007

SAN DIEGO – San Diego police officers shot and killed a man believed to have wounded a detective in a brief gunbattle at an apartment complex in Linda Vista Tuesday night.


Authorities said two police detectives and state parole officers were there looking for a man suspected in an attempted murder Saturday in Otay Mesa.
The man came out of a unit at Casa Linda Apartments with a handgun and confronted patrol officers on the street, on Linda Vista Road south of Glidden Street.

Police Capt. Mary Cornicelli said she wasn't sure if the man fired at those officers before retreating to a breezeway between units.

There, Cornicelli said, gunfire was exchanged between the man and the detectives with the parole officers. Officers radioed for emergency backup about 6:45 p.m., saying shots had been fired.

Officers from around the city sped to the scene, quickly cordoned off roads and called for two ambulances.

Paramedics declared the man dead as he lay on the breezeway sidewalk. A plainclothes detective, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital.

Police Chief William Lansdowne, who had been attending a community anti-crime event in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, went to the shooting scene, then to the hospital. He said the officer suffered a serious wound, but was stable and in good condition.

Residents around the complex said they had heard two to four gunshots. One man said he saw undercover officers pull up behind a sedan and follow a man from the car into the complex. Then he heard shots and saw some officers run out.

A woman said her husband saw officers arrive in a blue pickup and a bronze sedan and park crookedly across the sidewalk. They got out and followed a man into the apartment complex.

Cornicelli said detectives had received a tip earlier in the day that the man suspected of shooting another man in the head in an Otay Mesa parking lot Saturday night could be found at the Casa Linda Apartments.

The officers who were involved in the shooting but who were not injured were taken to a police substation. Officers who shoot someone are routinely placed on paid leave until they are cleared to return to duty.

San Diego police have shot and killed three people this year. On July 24, a man was shot as he came at an officer with a knife at Mission Bay Park. He was suspected of having sexually assaulted one of two women walking together on East Mission Bay Drive.

On April 18, two officers fatally shot Maurice Antoine White, 30, a motorist in North Park who allegedly pointed a handgun at one of the officers. Police had stopped him as a suspect connected to a man who had just robbed the F Street Adult Video store on University Avenue.

Noe Rojas, age 17 or 18, of Mexico, was shot after he backed an SUV into a patrol car during a traffic stop in Emerald Hills. He allegedly then drove toward the officers. He had a toy gun in his SUV.

The last time a San Diego police officer was wounded on duty was Nov. 12, 2003, when Officer Dan Walters, 37, was shot in the neck when he drove up as a gunman opened fire toward another officer in Southcrest in southern San Diego. A third officer killed the gunman.

[Ianl6]

Best wishes to the wounded officer get well soon.

[iso607]

Prayers sent for a full recovery.

[BigDawg]

Hope the officer recovers quickly, both emotionally and physically.

[kjlaw]

Thoughts and prayers enroute for a full recovery.

[SaraJ]

Hope the officer's better quickly.

[gozling]

best wishes to a speedy recovery

[Jenna]

Best wishes for a quick and full recovery.

[Willowdared]

Police confirm man they shot was wanted in Otay shooting



By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
3:25 p.m. August 8, 2007
SAN DIEGO – Police have confirmed that the man who died in a Linda Vista officer-involved shooting was the man wanted in an attempted murder Saturday night.
The man, 28-year-old Dario Martinez of San Diego, was suspected of shooting another man in the head at an Otay Mesa parking lot, said Lt. Manny Guaderrama. Martinez was also wanted on an outstanding no bail felony warrant.

Martinez was fatally shot Tuesday evening by patrol officers in a confrontation outside the Casa Linda Apartments on Linda Vista Road, south of Glidden Street.

Police said he drew the pistol from his waistband and tried to run from the officers as he was came to the street. When he raised the firearm toward the officers, one of them fired his gun at Martinez.

Martinez ran into a courtyard in the complex and was confronted by two officers in the back of the complex. Police said Martinez fired several rounds at the two officers and wounded one of them in the lower abdomen.

Both officers fired back, fatally wounding Martinez.
The officers involved are William Pettus, with 10 years with the department; Matthew Dobbs, with 16; and David Highsmith, a 12-year employee with the force.

Pettus underwent surgery and was reported to be in good condition. Two plainclothes police detectives and state parole officers also happened to be at the complex, investigating a tip in the parking lot shooting, police said.

Guaderrama said officers still have “quite a bit” of investigating to do in both the Otay Mesa shooting and the one in Linda Vista. “Just because the suspect is dead doesn't mean the case is closed,” Guaderrama said.

He said, however, that Martinez remains the only suspect in Saturday's shooting.

The victim in crime, which occurred in a parking lot near Del Sol Boulevard and Del Sol Lane about 7:45 p.m., was critically wounded but is expected to recover.

[Tuff]

Prayers for quick recovery.....