SDPD RELEASES VIDEO OF OFFICERS FIRING ON TIERRASANTA MAN
Suspect was not harmed but later shot, killed himself
Police on Wednesday released body-worn camera footage of three officers opening fire on an armed man earlier this month in Tierrasanta shortly before the man, unharmed by the officers’ gunfire, shot and killed himself.
Authorities said Ronald Rios, 62, pointed a gun at firefighters and later at police officers, but never fired at them.
The incident began shortly before noon on June 4 inside the Eldorado Greens condominium complex on Tierrasanta Boulevard a few blocks east of Santo Road, according to San Diego police.
In an audio recording of the 911 call released Wednesday, a woman tells a dispatcher there is smoke coming from underneath the door of a unit and the resident believed to be inside is not responding.
According to police and San Diego County sheriff ’s officials — the Sheriff ’s Department is investigating under new county guidelines that ensure law enforcement agencies don’t investigate their own shootings — firefighters responded and forced open the door.
Inside, they encountered a man armed with a handgun sitting on a couch. The firefighters said he pointed the gun at them, prompting them to retreat outside and wait for police.
Fire officials determined later that there was no fire inside the dwelling. Food burning on the stove had caused the smoke.
Body-worn camera footage shows officers walking along an indoor hallway as they approach the man’s door, but they quickly retreat to both ends of the hallway when an officer points out what appears to be blood on the ground near the door.
About 20 minutes later, Rios emerges and appears to point the handgun toward a group of officers on the east end of the hallway, the footage shows. Two officers from that end of the hallway and one from the other open fire.
A Sheriff’s Department spokesperson initially claimed Rios fired his gun at the officers, but authorities have since said he did not shoot at them.
Authorities last week identified the three officers who opened fire as Cassie Louret, who has been with the Police Department for 17 years and is assigned to the canine unit; Jason Langley, an eight-year member of the department who is also assigned to the canine unit; and Austin Thomas, an Eastern
Division patrol officer who has been with the department for one year.
Footage from Langley’s body-worn camera shows him taking cover behind a wall a few doors down the hallway. When Rios briefly walks out the front door, Langley shouts, “Hey, get down on the ground!” and then opens fire. Footage from Langley’s camera appears to show Rios pointing his gun toward the group of officers that included Langley and Louret.
Police said that after the officers fired at Rios, he retreated inside the condo, exited through a back door and then tried unsuccessfully to get into a neighbor’s residence.
About 10 minutes later, officers on the perimeter of the condo complex property heard a single gunshot, according to police. Footage from a police helicopter shows officers approaching Rios as he lies slumped against an outer wall of the complex in a pool of blood.
Police released a photograph of a handgun they said was found next to him and said an autopsy confirmed he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.