AUTHORITIES ID DETAINEE WHO WAS KILLED WHILE FLEEING

Deputy shot San Diego man Friday outside Central Jail

SAN DIEGO

A 36-year-old detainee who was shot and killed by a sheriff ’s deputy Friday evening outside the downtown Central Jail had slipped handcuffs off at least one wrist before escaping from a California State Park ranger’s car, authorities said Tuesday.

Nicholas Peter Bils, a San Diego resident, was shot at least once around 5:50 p.m. as he ran north on Front Street, according to San Diego police homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs.

Deputy Aaron Russell, 23, was identified Tuesday as the deputy who shot Bils, according to a news release. Russell, who was in uniform and on his way into work, has been with the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department for about 1 1⁄2 years.

California State Park rangers were taking Bils to the jail Friday after arresting him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a park ranger employee, according to Dobbs and San Diego police homicide Capt. Richard Freedman.

Authorities have not said where the alleged assault occurred or what led up to Bils’ arrest, but in an interview with NBC7, Kathleen Bils said she was told her son “brandished a golf putter” near a ranger at

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Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. She said he would use the putter to hit a ball while walking with his dog.

Kathleen Bils also told the television station her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was afraid of and had previous run-ins with law enforcement and didn’t understand the coronavirusrelated public health orders that mandate face masks and prohibit access to state parks and other places.

The Union-tribune was unable to reach Kathleen Bils for comment Monday or Tuesday.

According to a San Diego city attorney spokeswoman and court documents from the county District Attorney’s Office, Bils was charged in 2014 with misdemeanor escaping arrest and resisting an officer, and pleaded guilty to the escape charge. In 2017, he was charged with misdemeanor counts of escape from arrest and giving false information to a peace officer, as well as felony resisting an officer.

Authorities said Bils escaped from a ranger’s older model Ford Crown Victoriastyle car Friday just outside a large, gated vehicle entrance to the jail on Front and B streets.

“It appears (Bils) was able to slip the handcuffs off of at least one of his wrists and was able to open the door to the

vehicle,” Dobbs said in the news release Tuesday.

A second ranger was following in a pickup. “The second ranger attempted to get out of his vehicle and chase (Bils), but (Bils) slammed the vehicle door shut on him,” Dobbs said in the statement Tuesday.

Two uniformed deputies on their way into work at the jail saw the escape and chased Bils, who ran north on Front Street toward vehicles stopped in traffic, according to Dobbs and Freedman.

That’s when Russell opened fire, shooting Bils at least once, Dobbs said.

Because the shooting occurred in the city of San Diego, police homicide detectives are conducting the investigation, according to standard protocol.

On Monday morning, the San Diego branch of the NAACP released a statement that the organization was “unconvinced” that Bils posed a threat to human life — the new standard law enforcement officers must meet when using deadly force under Assembly Bill 392, which took effect Jan. 1.

Francine Maxwell, local president of the NAACP, wrote in the statement that because Bils was in custody and had likely searched for weapons, officers and deputies should have assumed he was unarmed.

Sheriff’s officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.