Witnesses to a deadly shooting in Oceanside by a Vista
sheriff's deputy May 20 have come forward to say that although the man who was
killed was acting bizarrely, they couldn't understand why the deputy felt
threatened enough to kill him.
In interviews with the North County Times, three witnesses
said they didn't understand why multiple officers at the scene didn't use
nonlethal force against the man, whose weapon was a broom handle. Each witness
was a stranger to all parties involved in the shooting, which took place at the
busy intersection of Melrose Drive and Oceanside Boulevard.
A San Diego Sheriff's Department spokeswoman declined to comment
specifically on the department's investigation of the shooting, but she said
its deputies have the right to self-defense.
Police identified the slain man as Elwood Edwards, 22, of
Los Angeles County. The man's father, however, said his name is actually Elwood
White.
In his four years with the Sheriff's Department, the deputy
who police said shot Edwards has been involved in two previous incidents that
prompted allegations of excessive use of force, but he was cleared of any
wrongdoing in those incidents.
Each of three witnesses who spoke to the newspaper said that
a police dog at the scene seemed eager to get involved, but the dog was not
deployed before a deputy shot Edwards ---- who was swinging the wooden broom
handle and lunging at the deputy, one witness said.
The witnesses also said they saw no evidence that stun guns,
beanbags or other less-lethal tactics were used.
One Vista couple in their 60s, whom the North County Times
agreed not to name because the couple feared police retaliation, said they were
shocked that the man was shot.
"I'm so angry about this," said the Vista woman.
"This kid did not have to die. There was no reason whatsoever."
Her husband said he watched as Edwards had created havoc
moments earlier by trashing a gas station's minimart, breaking windows and
punching apparent strangers. He said that Edwards deserved to be arrested and
prosecuted, but that "he did not deserve to die."
A third witness, Oceanside resident April Heredia, said she
was a car-length away as she watched Edwards swinging a broomstick and
screaming at officers and deputies as they formed an arc in front of Edwards,
guns trained on him.
"It just irritates me that it could happen that easy.
How did he (the shooter) make that decision that fast that guy's life should
have been taken?" Heredia said.
The deputy
Deputy-involved shootings have been a source of controversy
in Vista, particularly since the summer of 2005, when deputies shot and killed
three Latino men over the course of five days in unrelated incidents.
Separate reviews by county and state prosecutors of those
shootings found the deputies had committed no criminal wrongdoing. Civil rights
suits brought by the families of the men all failed to produce results in their
favor.
Although the shooting of Edwards happened in Oceanside,
Vista-based deputies also responded to the 911 calls, given the location of the
gas station, where witnesses said they saw Edwards throwing rocks through
windows and picking fights.
Oceanside police, who are handling the investigation,
identified the deputy who shot Edwards as San Diego County sheriff's Deputy
Michael Astorga, a four-year veteran of the department.
Little information was available regarding Astorga, who did
not respond last week to a message requesting comment from either him or an
attorney.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said department officials
would not comment on specifics of the Edwards matter while it was under
investigation.
"However, deputies do not lose their right to
self-defense when confronting an armed suspect," Caldwell wrote in an
email Friday. "In situations where force is necessary, deputies are
authorized to use all reasonable force to neutralize the threat."
Astorga was among those named in a federal civil rights
lawsuit filed in July 2010 on behalf of a 17-year-old boy, who said Astorga and
three other deputies threatened, beat and used a stun gun on him during an
encounter near the boy's apartment complex in July 2009.
Attorneys for the Sheriff's Department filed a response
denying wrongdoing.
A federal judge dismissed the case the following year. The
dismissal came not long after the plaintiff's attorney resigned, citing
problems with getting his client to respond to his calls.
The attorney who filed the lawsuit did not return calls for
comment.
Astorga was also listed in a sheriff's log as one of nine
deputies who responded to an April 26, 2009, house party in Vista where a
Marine was subdued with a Taser and another was hit with pepper spray,
according to a May 2009 story published in the North County Times.
The Marines accused two deputies of using excessive force
against them, but an internal investigation by sheriff's officials found that
the deputies had acted appropriately and within the department's policies.
Astorga was not identified as one of the two deputies
accused of using force.
"With respect to finding Astorga's name in a federal
lawsuit," Caldwell said, "anyone and everyone can make allegations,
especially when money may be a motivator. What is important to keep in mind is
how these allegations are ultimately resolved."
Throwing rocks
On May 20, Edwards first caught the attention of the Vista
couple who witnessed the events that led to his death. They had stopped for gas
at an AM-PM on the southwest corner of Oceanside Boulevard and Melrose Drive,
near the border of Oceanside and Vista.
The man and woman said they watched as Edwards crossed
Oceanside Boulevard at Melrose, yelling at a woman waiting at the stoplight,
then hurling a softball-sized rock and breaking the passenger window of her
truck.
The witness said she called 911 as she and her companion
watched Edwards tried to pick a fight with a man pumping gas, then launched a
rock through the back window of the man's truck.
Edwards "had an arsenal of rocks in his pockets,"
said the Vista man who witnessed the incident.
The man said he saw Edwards move inside the store and,
"in a sweeping motion," throw a rack of food. Once Edwards came back
outside, Edwards threw a large bottle of beer at yet another stranger.
Contrary to a report from Oceanside police, Edwards did not
smash the bottle over the man's head, the male witness said. The bottle Edwards
threw missed the man, the witness said.
Edwards then engaged other strangers in arguments, and
jumped onto the hood and roof of a car as it pulled into the station, the Vista
couple said. They said he then took off, heading west down Oceanside Boulevard.
The couple said they stayed on the phone with 911 as they
followed Edwards ---- losing him briefly as they stopped at a light, but catching
up in time to see him rip off his gray hoodie and throw a punch at other
apparent strangers.
Authorities arrive
By this time, Edwards had reached the 4900 block of
Oceanside Boulevard, along the back of Temple Heights Elementary School.
The Vista couple said Edwards grabbed a broom from the back
of the truck of a city worker who had stopped. They said Edwards beat the truck
until the broom-bristle portion popped off, leaving him with just the wooden
pole.
Witness Heredia came upon the scene and pulled over,
thinking she was seeing a road-rage brawl, she said. Suddenly police converged
around her, as she was about a car-length or so from Edwards, she said.
Edwards ran a few feet and stood in the ice plant on a slope
leading up to the school, all three witnesses said.
The Vista man said he saw Edwards hold his hands over his
head and heard him scream, "Somebody help me," as police surrounded
him. He did not remember seeing a stick in Edwards' hands.
Heredia said she did see the stick. She said she watched as
deputies and Oceanside police officers formed an arc around Edwards, who then
"came into their little circle."
"They didn't come toward him, he came toward
them," Heredia said.
She said Edwards was screaming, though she couldn't make out
what he was saying. Police screamed back, telling him to drop his weapon as he
inched toward Astorga, Heredia said.
"He was just coming towards one of them," Heredia
said. "I felt like his focus was on the one guy (Astorga) the whole time.
(Edwards) was going in his direction the whole time."
The deputy repeatedly stepped back as Edwards stepped
forward "lunging and swinging," Heredia said.
"I literally mean lunging. At the point that he got
shot, he could've hit him (Astorga)," she said.
"The last time he lifted his stick, the cop shot
him," Heredia said.
Heredia said blood immediately soaked Edwards' white
T-shirt.
"He grabbed himself and staggered a little bit and fell
to the ground like he was surrendering. ... He wasn't dead on contact,"
Heredia said.
Heredia said she watched as a policeman cuffed Edwards and
left him face down. Shortly, she said, "they lifted him up, grabbed his
shoulder and rolled him halfway over on his side facing toward me. They lifted
up his shirt, and I saw the gunshot."
The officer placed Edwards face down again in the ice plant
and left him there, Heredia said.
The man and the woman from Vista each said they had turned
their heads away and missed seeing the fatal shot.
Oceanside police said Edwards suffered a bullet wound to the
chest; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detective Doug Baxter of the Oceanside Police Department
said last week that he was not able to discuss specific details about the
shooting, which remains under investigation.
"We have a clear picture of what happened, but we don't
know why," Baxter said.
After Oceanside police finish their investigation, the San
Diego County district attorney's office will probably review the case, which is
standard when a police officer or deputy shoots someone. Prosecutors typically
look at the case to see if the shooting warrants criminal charges. The review
does not cover police policies and procedures.
In the days that followed the shooting, witnesses said the
incident haunted them.
The Vista woman said she still visualizes Edwards falling
into the vegetation after being shot.
"There was no reason for him to be shot," she
said. "A broomstick is not going to do as much damage as a bullet."