CA Man Commits `Suicide By Cop'
Ken [NY
Fontana, CA - 1/21/2002
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
By ANDREW SILVA and DAVID BRADVICA
In what appeared to be an instance of ''suicide by cop,'' Fontana
police officers shot and killed a man Friday night after he summoned
them to his Southridge residence with a 911 call and pointed a pellet
gun at them, authorities said.
Police said the man, identified as 23-year-old Daniel Ladd of Fontana,
called 911 shortly after 11 p.m. and identified himself as his
teen-aged brother. He told the 911 operator that his brother had just
shot and killed his mother.
Two officers were at the doorstep of the home in the 11500 block of
Gold Hill Avenue within three minutes of the 911 call. They were
confronted by a man who appeared to be carrying a chrome semiautomatic
handgun inside the darkened house, Fontana police Capt. Tim Ousley
said.
The man ignored repeated orders to drop the weapon and show his hands
before he pointed the gun at the officers. The two officers fired
simultaneously, Ousley said.
Ladd was struck by at least one round.
San Bernardino County Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead
at the scene, San Bernardino County Supervising Deputy Coroner Randy
Emon said.
Investigators subsequently determined that Ladd had made the false 911
call and had told others recently that he planned to have police kill
him. An attorney for one of the officers said Saturday that it was a
clear case of ''suicide by cop,'' where suicidal people provoke
officers into killing them.
''It's unfortunate that people who want to kill themselves would do so
by putting police officers in a position of danger,'' said Rancho
Cucamonga attorney Dieter C. Dammeier, whose law firm represents the
Fontana Police Officers Association. ''This can cause a lot of turmoil
in the officers' lives and that's also unfortunate.''
Police withheld the names of the two officers. Dammeier said the one
of the officers was a sergeant with 22 years of experience with the
Fontana department and the other officer had been with Fontana for
three years after working for five years for the Los Angeles Police
Department.
Neither officer had previously been involved in a shooting, Dammeier
said.
No one else was injured. Ladd's teen-age brother and mother were in
the home at the time of the shooting and Dammeier said their safety
also was a consideration in why officers fired their weapons at Ladd.
The weapon that Ladd pointed at the officers was found to be a pellet
gun, which police said strongly resembles a semiautomatic pistol.
The shooting shocked residents of the solidly middle-class Southridge
neighborhood. A block or so from the scene, scores of children played
soccer Saturday morning on a large grass field amid the single- and
two-story stucco homes.
Jesus Sandoval, 45, lives across the street from the tan, single-story
home with an American flag in the window where the shooting occurred.
He said there were never problems in the area.
''This is a nice neighborhood,'' he said.
Neighbors said Ladd lived in the home on the 11500 block of Gold Hill
Avenue with his brother, mother and grandmother.
Boys in the neighborhood said they occasionally spent time with the
younger son, but didn't know Ladd very well.
Next-door neighbor David Arteaga, 49, said he has greeted Ladd a few
times but didn't really know him.
''He was quiet, didn't bother anybody,'' he said.
''They really pretty much kept to themselves,'' said Ruth Arteaga, 38.
''Our kids would sometimes play with the younger brother.''
Both officers are likely to be given a few days off from work and
access to psychological counseling, Dammeier said.
Fontana police said Saturday that the investigation into the shooting
was being conducted by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Dammeier indicated that a Fontana police lieutenant also interviewed
the officers about the incident as part of the department's internal
review.
''We were called in to investigate in order to avoid the appearance of
bias,'' said sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson.
Sheriff's officials will forward the results of their investigation to
the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, which will
determine if the filing of criminal charges against the officers are
warranted, and to Fontana police for their internal review, Patterson
said.
Ken (NY)
--
Chairperson,
Department of Redundancy Department
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