Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Hawklore on December 19, 2004, 11:07:32 PM
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12/20/2003
Calif. Man Shoots Cop Then Kills Self While in Custody
SAN BERNARDINO: The sheriff says he wasn't searched properly. The suicide was videotaped.
By TIM GRENDA AND IMRAN GHORI / The San Bernardino Press-Enterprise
MUSCOY, Calif. -- A man who shot and wounded a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop in Muscoy on Friday morning killed himself an hour later while alone inside a sheriff's interview room with a pistol he apparently sneaked into the building, officials said.
Sheriff Gary Penrod said officers failed to adequately search the man, identified by the San Bernardino County Coroner's office as Ricardo Alfonso Cerna, 47, of San Bernardino.
The deputy shot during the traffic stop, Mike Parham, 31, is in critical but stable condition and is expected to recover, officials said.
In an extraordinary move, a 13-minute surveillance-camera video that included footage of the man's suicide was shown by the Sheriff's Department to reporters, the leaders of local Latino groups and officials from the Mexican consulate to quash any questions regarding the department's treatment of Hispanic subjects.
The video shows Cerna pulling a .45-caliber handgun from his pants and firing one shot into his left temple.
"The best way to dispel any rumors was to have the media view this tape," said Undersheriff Bob Peppler.
The video, which sheriff's officials said was unedited, begins with Cerna being brought into an interview room where Sheriff's Sgt. Bobby Dean uncuffed him and had him sit in a chair in front of a table.
Cerna, looking tired and disheveled, only spoke briefly and in Spanish, replying to questions from Dean.
He leaned down on the table on his right arm for much of the time, occasionally rubbing his head, his nose and eyes with his hand, and coughing a few times. His eyes were downcast, only looking up a couple times when speaking to Dean. He responded with a short, tired laugh when Dean asked him the Spanish word for wallet and he responded " cartera."
At one point, Dean took Cerna out of the interview room for about four minutes to have his fingerprints scanned electronically. The man was brought back shortly because the machine wasn't working at the time, officials said.
Shortly after they returned, someone brought in a bottle of water and a cup of coffee for Dean. Dean stepped out of the room, leaving Cerna alone.
Cernasat down with his back against the wall, took the cap off the water bottle, took two gulps, and put the bottle down. He started breathing heavily, pulled a large handgun from the front of his pants with his left hand and shot himself in the left temple.
The video ended with an expletive from Dean off camera.
Search called inadequate
Penrod said deputies failed to adequately search Cerna before he was put in a car, and again when he was transferred to the homicide division office. Each receiving deputy may have wrongly assumed the previous officer adequately searched the man, he said. Names of the arresting officers were not released.
Ron Martinelli, a police consultant and legal expert on law enforcement cases, said by phone Friday that the man should have been searched twice, stripped of his clothes, and put in a jump suit before he was ever put into an interview room.
"If they do a good search, and take his clothes, and put him in a jumpsuit, there's no problems of him not being handcuffed," he said.
Martinelli said 38 percent of all officers killed in the line of duty since 1980 died as a result of not doing a search, or doing a poor search, of a suspect.
Penrod said confusion among the three agencies involved - the Highway Patrol, San Bernardino police and the Sheriff's Department - may have contributed to the oversight.
"Obviously there was a mistake made," Penrod said by phone Friday. "It was hectic and it was a guy who was cuffed by somebody other than the transporting officer.
"Now we've got some procedural issues that we need to address - where did things go wrong," Penrod said. "I'm just glad this guy didn't kill anybody else and that our deputy is going to make it."
Traffic-stop shooting
Parham, the deputy shot by Cerna during the traffic stop, was in critical but stable condition with a wound in the abdomen that damaged his liver, stomach and lungs, Penrod said.
The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
"He'll be home by Christmas," the sheriff said.
Parham, a deputy since 1998, was shot twice at about 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of California and Adams streets in Muscoy, northwest of San Bernardino, said sheriff's spokeswoman Robin Haynal.
He was struck once in the abdomen and once in his bulletproof vest and taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center for surgery, she said.
The shooting unfolded after Parham tried to stop Cerna's white 1980 Nissan at the intersection of State and Adams streets, officials said.Cernawouldn't pull over, and Parham gave chase for about a minute along Adams Street until the suspect's car crossed California Street, jumped the curb and came to a stop, officials said.
As the deputy approached in his squad car, Cerna leaped from his vehicle with a large-caliber handgun, officials said.
He shot at the front of the deputy's car, hitting the windshield and then the hood, continuing to fire as he ran past the driver's side of the car where he blew out the side window, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.
Beavers said she didn't know the exact number of shots fired.
Parham wasn't able to get out of his car or fire back, officials said. He did radio for medical help, they said.
School put on lockdown
The scene of the shooting is south of California Elementary School, which was in session at the time, school officials said.
"At the time of the shooting there was a class outside participating in one of their PE lessons," said Linda Hill, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino City Unified School District. "Those students hit the ground as their teacher directed."
The campus was put on lockdown immediately following the shooting. Counselors were sent to the school to talk to both staff and students, Hill said.
After the shooting, Cerna attempted to run inside a house on Adams Street, but the resident ran into the house and locked the door, said sheriff's deputy Lt. Rick Carr . Cerna then ran through the back yard to a house on Mesa Street.
Sergio Quintero, 21, and his nephew, Roberto Deharo, 11, were sitting inside the garage when Cerna walked through the open door and offered $10 for a ride.
Quintero told the man he had no car and couldn't give him a ride. Cerna then asked for a shirt and Quintero gave him a black T-shirt bearing the picture of a snake.
Cerna also asked for a rake and shovel, which he took out into the front yard.
Quintero said he thought the situation was "weird," but didn't know that police were looking for the man.
But while Cerna was out front, Quintero noticed police officers in his back yard and asked if they were looking for someone. He said he then told them about the suspect in the front yard.
The police came out front, pulled their guns and told the suspect to get on the ground, Quintero said.
"They told him to stay down and don't move," Quintero said. "He laid on the ground and they handcuffed him."
I saw the vid too... :eek:Source (http://www.policeone.com/policeone/frontend/parser.cfm?object=News&operation=full_news&id=74557#)
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Yeah I saw the vid to.
I wonder what the heck the guy was thinking?
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Where can I find the vid?
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Not employer safe:
http://www.ogrish.com
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This reeks of a CIA mind control test.
A cop shooter stops to rake a guys front yard? Yeah right.
A cop shooter gets all that way with a .45 down his pants? Yeah right.
edit: watched the vid... jeezuz it looks like Manchurian Candidate stuff :(
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Nope sorry to say it just looks like someone dropped the ball.
Just very lucky this guy did not go nutts and start shooting cops inside the station!
He already showed that he was not afraid to shoot an officer.
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Ahh. Good old Ogrish.
Funny I did not see it on the front page. Must be in the forums. OMW Ogrish!:aok
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how in hell could a guy, under arrest for shooting a deputy, make it into a interrogation room with a loaded pistol in his waistband?
Im just thankfull he killed himself and no one else.
in closing: There are simply too many human beings polluting the planet with their filth and excrement, nature is preparing a major culling of the population, I can sense it.
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It was the same gun he shot the cop with I bet.
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anyone see what kind of pistol that was. I was surpised there was no exit wound. Then again I do watch to many movies
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I hope the wounded police officer makes a full and speedy recovery.
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It looked like a full sized handgun, a Beretta 9mm 92F type or clone. the pistol was held in the left hand and the left temple was the entry point. The bullet did not exit the head (further suggesting 9mm) but the right eye quickly bruised and swelled suggesting the bullet ended up somewhere in that proximity.
The guy checked out real quick.
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Reports were that it was an 45acp.
I believe that it did exit it just happend so fast we could not see it.
And not to be morbid but the round probably did not slow enough to cause much exspansion so exite hole would be small.
And yes I second what Airhead said Hope the officer that was shot pulls thru ok.
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Notice how his head jolted violently backwards away from the shot?
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grassy knoll?
Also, you can see the wall opposite side of the shot and you can see the wall behind the shot. No impact marks or spatter. I seriously doubt the round was a 45 APC. I once saw a video of a headshot with 45 APC and it looked like the head was hit with a force equivalent to a baseball bat. This was just a tap in comparrison. Most likely a 9mm.
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If it was not for the news story I would have said this is a fake. I don't like to Monday morning quarterback my own because we are all capable of making mistakes. I just can't believe they allowed him to be in the interview room uncuffed, a suspect involved in the shooting of a fellow police officer. And no second or third searches - where there’s one gun there’s usually another. Off the record - I was shocked that he was unscathed - especially after shooting a cop. I commend the arresting officers for their restraint. At least there will not be a long dragged out courtroom trial with some liberal attorney trying to paint a portrait of a troubled childhood which when compounded by our social system created this poor worthless piece of garbage.
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The video shows Cerna pulling a .45-caliber handgun from his pants and firing one shot into his left temple
The article says 45
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Im of the opinion the article is wrong.
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Im of the opinion Cerna is dead.
Now, how's the cop doing?
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I watched, after beind told it was a .45 and watched it a second time looking for the exit wound/splatter..
If it werent for the amount of pouring from the skull, I woulda said there was no way it was a .45.
And now after second thoughts it seems to be around 9mm, I've seen 8mm rifle rounds and it's almost close to the size of pour...
I fourth the saying, hope the officer is doing okay.
They said he'd be home for christmas...
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Another thing to look for is how violently the pistol blew away from the hand at the moment detonation.
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Originally posted by Yeager
It looked like a full sized handgun, a Beretta 9mm 92F type or clone. the pistol was held in the left hand and the left temple was the entry point. The bullet did not exit the head (further suggesting 9mm) but the right eye quickly bruised and swelled suggesting the bullet ended up somewhere in that proximity.
The guy checked out real quick.
If it WAS A Beretta 92, I find it amazing that it DIDN'T stovepipe.
That Sherriff Dept. might have a slot opening up, you better bet someone is losing their job . All that was NEEDED, was a simple "Terry Pat Down".
Karaya
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Looked at the video full screen. Blued steel Colt 1911.
Karaya
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Interesting comparrison: The typical 45 Auto slug weighs in at 230 grams and is fired with an average muzzle velocity of 850 FPS, and the average 9mm is 115 grams with a muzzle velocity of 1250 FPS.
An interesting discussion might include a debate about a bullet twice as heavy going slower by about one third -having any better or worse chance of entering and exiting the average brain packed skull when fired from point-blank range -as a bullet half as heavy going faster by about one third.
Also, I dont recall the safety layout on typical Colts...is it the same as the safety layout on the 92F and clones? The way the guy twisted the pistol slightly to give his thumb access to the safety made me think of the way I had to disable the the safety when firing a 92F...I dont recall needing to twist the Colt to disable the safety but it has been a few years.......
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Originally posted by Masherbrum
If it WAS A Beretta 92, I find it amazing that it DIDN'T stovepipe.
That Sherriff Dept. might have a slot opening up, you better bet someone is losing their job . All that was NEEDED, was a simple "Terry Pat Down".
Karaya
Several people in several departments will lose their job..
Some people say it's kinda hard to tell the dif. between the barrel of a 1911 and a wallet..
But.. I sure would know...
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I read somewhere that CT and swat units prefer 45acp over 9mm parabellum because 45acp often doesn't exit, making it safer for clearing operations. That also means that it dumps all of it's KE into the target, giving it better stopping power, while 9mm will often go through and through. And because it is subsonic it is easier to muffle.
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Originally posted by Yeager
The way the guy twisted the pistol slightly to give his thumb access to the safety made me think of the way I had to disable the the safety when firing a 92F...I dont recall needing to twist the Colt to disable the safety but it has been a few years.......
It looked to me like he was thumbing the hammer back, if it was a Colt 1911 with a "round" chambered he would have to thumb the hammer as the Colt is single action. I wonder what the investigater was thinking when he went back into the room..."Gee I wonder if there is a form for this kind of thing?"