HARBOR POLICE RELEASE VIDEO OF MARCH 1 SHOOTOUT WITH DRIVER
Harbor Police on Friday released video footage from a March 1 shootout between an officer and the driver he pulled over in front of the San Diego Convention Center — footage that highlights the moment that man suddenly pulled out a gun.
The incident started about 7 p.m. after the officer pulled over a car. The driver was identified later as 29year-old Daniel Quiroz.
Police said Quiroz stepped out of the car and opened fire on Port of San Diego Harbor Police Officer Cody Horn. The officer returned fire. A gun battle erupted, with more than 20 bullets fired on the downtown street.
Neither the officer nor driver was injured, but a stray round struck a passerby on the backside — a bullet blocked by the glasses case in his back pocket. Police said he received a minor injury.
Security camera caught the encounter, as did a bodyworn camera on the officer,
several minutes of which the Port of San Diego — which oversees Harbor Police — released Friday in a nearly 10minute video posted to YouTube. The newly released footage also includes video shot by a FOX5 crew that happened to be shooting a news story less than a block away at the time.
The footage starts with security camera images of Horn pulling over Quiroz on Harbor at Fifth Avenue,
then walking up to the passenger side of the car.
It includes Horn’s point of view, as the officer asks the driver if he had realized he ran a red light. According to police, Horn spoke to the driver for about two minutes before, suspecting he was impaired, asking him to step out of the car.
The driver eventually gets out. A frame of Horn’s body-worn camera footage shows the driver pulling the
gun from his waistband. Horn spots it and yells, “Hey, put that gun down!”
Police said Horn then opened fire, and Quiroz fired back.
Horn backs away toward his car and beyond, looking for cover, and radios in “Shots fired!” according to the video. Quiroz also seeks cover, hiding behind the front of his sedan. Fox5 footage shows him there, hunched over by the hood as he fiddles with his gun.
Police provided several seconds of Horn’s bodycamera footage, magnified 230 percent to highlight the seconds when the driver gets out of the car, mutters something then pulls out the gun.
After the initial shoot out, there is a gap in the footage — police said it’s roughly nine minutes — during which police say Quinoz refused to follow Horn’s commands.
The footage comes back with a shot from Horn’s camera, the gunman lying on his stomach, his arms stretched wide, on the street in front of the convention center. Officers approach and handcuff the man, then check to see if he has weapons and ask if he’s been wounded.
Cut to a closeup of his gun on the ground.
Quiroz has pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to a charge of attempted murder and two charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, including assault on a peace officer.
Quiroz, who faces a maximum of 29 years if convicted on all charges, remains jailed without bail and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing next month. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Though the shooting involved a Harbor Police officer, San Diego police homicide detectives are investigating, which is standard for all shootings in the city that involve law enforcement, whether fatal or not.
Following that investigation, the District Attorney’s Office will review the shooting. Harbor Police are also reviewing it.
The March 1 incident marked the fourth time a Harbor Police officer has opened fire on duty since 1998. According to records kept by the Union-Tribune, officers fatally shot a man at that time. There were also shootings involving Harbor Police in 2008 and 2015. Both shootings were fatal.