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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInvestigative Report_Investigation by VillantiMemorandum Police Department 1042 Walnut Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-2729 805.781.7317 sIocity.org Date: October 13, 2021 To: Chief Scott Via: Lieutenant Mickel From: Lieutenant Villanti Subject: Officer Blake Etherton; Investigative File # 2020-0025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On Friday, June loth through Saturday, June 11th, 2020, officers from the SLOPD Regional Swat Team activated and deployed to the City of Paso Robles to assist with an active shooter incident. Mason Lira was the identified suspect who had shot at the PRPD public safety building and responding officers. Suspect Lira was suspected of killing a transient and injury a SLOSO Deputy who was shot in the face. On December 8th, 2020, Acting Captain Fred Mickel placed Officer Blake Etherton on paid administrative leave for allegations of poor decision making and taking unnecessary risks when using force which placed the public and his partners in peril. I was assigned this internal investigation. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Notice of Investigation 2. San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department Final Summary 3. Officer Etherton interview recording 4. Transcript of Etherton's interview 5. Interview questions 6. Lexipol policies 7. Etherton's POST Training Printout 8. Etherton's Lexipol Policy Acknowledgment Printout 9. "Shooter Positions" photos (both team and Etherton's position) obtained from SLOSO 1 ALLEGATIONS: Officer Etherton used poor decision -making and took unnecessary risks when discharging his rifle at suspect Mason Lira on June 11 th placing other officers in peril. POTENTIAL POLICY VIOLATIONS: 300.3.2 FACTORS USED TO DETERMINE THE REASONABLENESS OF FORCE When determining whether to apply force and evaluating whether an officer has used reasonable force, several factors shall be taken into consideration, as time and circumstances permit (Government Code § 7286(b)). These factors include but are not limited to: 0) The availability of other reasonable and feasible options and their possible effectiveness (Penal Code § 835a). (m) Potential for injury to officers, suspects, bystanders, and others. 339.5.10 SAFETY (a) Failure to observe or violating department safety standards or safe working practices. (d) Unsafe firearm or other dangerous weapon handling to include loading or unloading firearms in an unsafe manner, either on- or off -duty. Investigation: On December 8th, 2020, 1 was assigned this investigation on Officer Etherton. In late August 2021, 1 received the officer -involved shooting summary packet from the San Luis Obispo Sheriffs Department. As part of my investigation, I reviewed their written summary, viewed all the pertinent video/drone footage, and still, photos depicting where officers' locations were when deadly forced was deployed. I reviewed department policy and interviewed Officer Blake Etherton about this incident. Call Summary: During the early morning hours of June 10, 2020, the Paso Robles Police Department (PRPD) received numerous calls for service reporting "shots heard" in the downtown area of Paso Robles. Several hours later, a male suspect was 2 M observed on PRPD security cameras holding a pistol outside of the station. PRPD then initiated a request for assistance from other local law enforcement agencies including the Atascadero Police Department (APD), the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office (SLOSO). Upon responding to the area, APD, CHP, and PRPD officers were fired upon, and patrol vehicles were struck. SLOSO Deputies then responded to the downtown area and were also engaged by gunfire. One SLOSO Deputy was shot in the face and his partner returned fire. The suspect eluded capture as numerous law enforcement agencies converged on the area. Throughout the daytime hours of June 10, 2020, law enforcement tactical teams searched the downtown Paso Robles area for the shooter. These tactical teams included the Sheriffs Office Special Enforcement Detail (SED) and the San Luis Obispo Regional Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). As search efforts were initiated, a homicide victim identified as James Watson was discovered behind the train station along the railroad tracks. Investigative personnel from several law enforcement agencies began processing numerous crime scenes in downtown Paso Robles. Later that evening the Downtown Paso Robles Photograph from the morning of June 10, 2020. suspect emerged from an underground dwelling in the downtown area and began firing additional rounds in Paso Robles city. At this point, the suspect had been identified from surveillance videos as Mason James Lira. Lira fled from PRPD Officers into the Salinas Riverbed. Numerous law enforcement agencies continued looking for Lira throughout the night and into the daytime hours of June 11, 2020. Search efforts consisted of numerous law enforcement personnel including air assets, the assistance of armored vehicles, and SWAT teams from surrounding counties. 3 `.J During the afternoon hours of June 11, 2020, Mason Lira engaged the San Luis Obispo Regional SWAT ..Blue" team with gunfire striking an Arroyo Grande Police Department Sergeant (AGPD) in the leg. SWAT Dusi Vineyard photograph from the afternoon of June 11, 2020. team members returned gunfire as they sought cover into an armored vehicle. Approximately two hours later Mason Lira emerged from a position of concealment along the eastern edge of the Dusi Vineyard off Ramada Drive. Lira was engaged with gunfire from another portion of the San Luis Obispo Regional SWAT "Green" Team who was south of his position. This was the team that Officer Blake Etherton was assigned to when the team fatally shot Mason Lira. Ultimately, the entire incident lasted over 36 hours which was investigated as four separate officer -involved shooting events with numerous crime scenes including that of a civilian homicide. For this internal investigation, I will focus only on when Officer Etherton shot at suspect Mason Lira during the 'scene four' OIS and this investigation will focus on his actions while at this shooting scene. Body Worn Camera/Drone & Still Photo Review: In the scene four BWC video (Video Addendum No. 8) captured by Reginal SWAT (Blue) Team Member, Officer Gonzales (PRPD), you can hear Officer Etherton asking an officer to check behind him to ensure that Officer Leonard "see's" and the voice say's "yep, they are switching". Officer Etherton then says "that sounds like your team" then a male voice responds by saying "yep". Officer Etherton then repeats "that sounds like our team, boys. I got him". Somebody starts yelling "show me your hands, that's him" several times. Then a large volley of weapon fire erupts for a few seconds until the command of seize fire is yelled out. The BWC records a rock wall for most of the time leading up to the shooting and for about a minute after. The BWC video does show that Officer Etherton initially set up on the far -left side of his team when they all initially kneeled at the concrete wall just before the 4 shooting occurred as depicted in the 'shooter positions' photo obtained from SLOSO (Attachment # 11). Interview with Officer Blake Etherton: On September 15th, 2020, at approximately 1047 hours, I interviewed Officer Blake Etherton in the San Luis Obispo Human Resources Conference room at 990 Palm. Officer Blake's attorney, Robert Baumann, and Sgt. Schafer was present during the interview. The following is his statement in summary. I asked Officer Etherton if he remembered the SWAT callout where he was involved in the search of Mason Lira on June 10-11th in Paso Robles, CA. Etherton said he recently read his report and the incident is fresh in his recollection. I informed Officer Etherton this investigation would focus only on the time frame just before and during the deployment of force on Mason Lira where he was involved in an OIS. Officer Etherton relayed the following to me. Officer Etherton said on June 11 th, 2020, around 1400 hours, he was assigned to the San Luis Obispo Reginal SWAT Green Team. The Green Team was deployed to search for Mason Lira who was wanted for shooting at and wounding a SLOSO Deputy along with possibly murdering a transient the day prior. Officer Etherton said the Green Team consisted of Juan Leon, Greg Benson, Caleb Kemp, Joe Leonard, and himself. Joe Hernandez, Marcelo Magana, Josh Bywater, and a few others self -deployed and showed up at the Green Teams location. The Green Team utilized the Bearcat and was parked on the northeast corner of the concrete yard just south of the vineyard and a few yards behind some concrete "K" rails. Refer to "shooter positions" photograph for officer/deputy locations. The team's overall mission was to search for Lira using intelligence from the other deployed teams and the command post. The most recent intelligence was from the Blue Team whom Lira shot at and hit Sgt. Mike Smiley in the leg. I asked Officer Etherton to describe the area they were occupying just before the shooting. Officer Etherton said it was a construction yard and it looked like they manufactured cement. It had lots of workers and employees that were in the area, most of which had left or were still nearby. Officer Etherton said he had no idea where the workers were going, but while the team was proceeding there, some people were leaving and others were hiding in place. There were a lot of rocks, and decomposed granite, making for elevated positions. The team deployed into the most northeast corner of what he thought was the property line. At the northeast corner, there was an oak tree that was fairly open that the team could see down into, and then a little berm on what would be the east side of the bearcat where some of the team stagged next too. There was another portion of the team that was on the backside of the bearcat looking into the vineyard, which the vineyard faced north. The vineyard had a 50 foot or so elevation drop from our location with rolling 5 hills. If you traveled along the northern perimeter there was more decomposed granite approximately 100 yards away from the team. Officer Etherton said initially the Green team and some of the officers/deputies who self -deployed stagged behind the "K" rail for cover, and the stacking order from left to right was; Etherton, Gonzales, Kemp, Magana, Virgil, Clayton, Leon, and Benson. Bishop was inside the bearcat and Leonard and Bywater were snipers assigned to the area but fifty -plus yards south of the team up on a rock pile. He described the weather as clear and 105 or 106 degrees outside and the heat was so intense it would have caused a little haze in the scopes at the distance they shot. Officer Ethertron was utilizing a Department -issued Colt M4 with an AimPoint Red Dot system which had no magnification. Officer Etherton said he removed the "beehive" lens filter prior which cuts the sunlight glare down on the scope. He said this allows him to have higher visibility of the red dot and a clearer sight picture from a distance. Just before the shooting Officer Etherton decided to stand up and leave the cover of the "K" rail. He moved backward away from his team approximately 15 feet. He described his new location as away from the Bearcat and nobody was in front of him. Officer Etherton recalled only seeing PRPD Officer Leonard on the "K" rail and he didn't know where everyone else moved to. After moving to this new location, he noticed suspect Mason Lira approximately 100 yards away in the vineyard. Officer Etherton said when he fired his first round it was from a standing position and then he began slowly moving forward back towards the "K" rail. He recalled Mason Lira was walking westbound through the vineyard. I asked Officer Etherton how he was feeling emotionally. He described himself as feeling "fine" and trying to protect his teammates, partners, and the public. He recalled everyone experiencing a lot of emotions that day and said he was one of the more calm individuals and he was leaning on his experience as an instructor to help his team accomplish the mission. I asked Officer Etherton to describe the backstop behind Mason Lira and he said there was a hill directly behind Lira. He described the hill as five to six feet tall as there were rolling rows of grapes in the vineyard. Officer Etherton estimated the height of the rolling hills by comparing how much Mason Lira stuck above the hill. Officer Etherton said Mason Lira's head stuck above the hill and that is why he estimated the hill to be five to six feet tall. Officer Etherton said he was shooting from an elevated position and Mason Lira was below him due to the topography of the landscape. This allowed him to feel more confident that if rounds were to miss Mason Lira it would not jeopardize hitting another person and would go in the embankment. Officer Etherton said he received a picture text from Sgt. Pfarr informing him there was no containment team on the north perimeter which meant no officers were in the backdrop area. N. After moving to this new location, Officer Etherton noticed suspect Mason Lira approximately 75 yards away in the vineyard. He recognized Mason Lira by his clothing and hair description. All of Mason Lira's descriptors matched what he was provided by the Command Post. Officer Etherton said he saw a silver revolver in Mason Lira's right hand and he knew this from his training and experience and years of shooting revolvers. He recalled the way the sun glistened off the revolver and he knew the person walking in the vineyard was Mason Lira based on all these factors. Officer Etherton said when he fired his first round it was from a standing position shouldering the weapon on his dominant side (right) the entire time. He then followed up with 13 more rounds fired. During the time he fired his 14 rounds he began slowly moving forward back towards the "K" rail. He recalled Mason Lira was walking westbound through the vineyard while he was shooting at Mason Lira. Officer Etherton couldn't remember if he was shooting while moving or if he shot between steps while both feet were planted on the ground. He estimated it took him approximately 5 seconds to slowly walk the 15 feet back to the "K" rail while shooting 14 rounds. Officer Etherton said it was difficult to recall these minor details due to the time elapsed since the incident. Officer Etherton said his last shot was taken was a headshot and he is not sure if it was from behind the "K" rail or while he was still walking towards it. After taking this last shot he called for a cease-fire to the team. Officer Etherton said all his shots were from a standing position and were taken when the rifle was in semi -automatic mode. He tracked Mason Lira through his scope while Mason Lira was walking westbound away from his team who were east of both Officer Etherton and Mason Lira. I asked Officer Etherton about the after -action night photos taken by the SLOSO Detectives who were trying to capture his position at the time of the shooting. Officer Etherton said it had been hours after the shooting and he had been up for an extended amount of time. He showed the detectives, to the best of his recollection, while being fatigued, where he thought he was before, during, and, after the shooting. Officer Etherton was hired as a police officer in July 2012 by Riverside County Sheriffs Department. He transferred to SLOPD in 2014. During his law enforcement tenure, he has held numerous special assignments. Officer Etherton has completed training related to using force, a firearms instructor, and an active shooter instructor. Some of these training include force options training (mandatory every 24 months), crisis Intervention training, tactical communication, arrest, and control training and has participated in force options simulators and is a Critical Incident Instructor and Field Training Officer. Officer Etherton said all of the firearms experience and training that he had leading up to this incident, especially as a firearms instructor in active shooter instructor schools and SWAT school itself prepared him for this shooting. He went on to say "many of -- most of the shooting scenarios that we did mirror a lot of things that happened that day while shooting as a team and trying to bring someone into custody and -- there were countless scenarios from them' . Officer Etherton's extensive training and experience should have allowed him to recognize his shooting location and position were not as advantageous as the rest of the team who was positioned in front of him (closer) and in a better shooting platform (using the "K" rail for support). Officer Etherton left a kneeling position where he had a supported shooting platform and could have used the "K" rail as support. Instead, he opted to stand up and move further away from the cover and the suspect (Mason Lira). Officer Etherton knew snipers were deployed near him and would be using far superior equipment allowing them to take a 100 plus yard shot with much higher success. When suspect Mason Lira moved into the vineyard he was approximately 110 yards from Officer Etherton. I asked Officer Etherton if he thought the standing shooting platform was best to shoot from. He said it was the best available platform at the time because Mason Lira was "turning the gun to fire at him". Officer Etherton acknowledged there are more ideal shooting positions to fire from allowing more accuracy but reiterated at the time the situation was so fluid standing was the only option. I asked Officer Etherton if the Reginal SWAT Blue Team was closer than his team to suspect Mason Lira. Officer Etherton acknowledged the Blue Team was closer. I asked him why he took the shot knowing his team (Green) members were between him and Mason Lira. Officer Etherton said he thought he needed to take the shot to stop the threat and that others would not be able to resolve the situation. I pointed out to him that between both the Blue and Green SWAT Teams there would have been approximately 15 potential officers who could have engaged suspect Mason Lira. Officer Etherton said base on the topography of the land and the location of some of the SWAT officers they wouldn't have been able to see Mason Lira. Personnel File Review: A check of Officer Etherton's personnel file did not reveal any prior identifiable issues or past policy violations related to this investigation. . Policy and Training File Review: Officer Etherton has completed numerous training classes during his career which relate specifically to this investigation. The following training has been completed during his career: s 10/14/2013 Communication: Keeping Your Edge (How to successfully communicate with others) 11 /13/2013 Force Options Simulator (Decision making and using the appropriate level of force) 01/13/2014 Arrest and Control Techniques 09/30/2014 Force Options Simulator 03/09/2015 Arrest and Control Techniques 05/22/2015 Field Training Officer (How to train academy graduates and new hires) 08/19/2015 Officer Safety/Force Encounters Analysis 01/17/2016 Communication: Keeping Your Edge 05/03/2016 Force Options Simulator 03/02/2018 Tactical Communication (Choosing the right words to get desired results) 03/09/2018 Critical Incident Instructor 05/15/2018 Arrest and Control Technique Update 06/28/2018 Force Options Simulator 01 /18/2019 Crisis Intervention (How to identify and communicate with individuals experiencing a crisis) 10/11 /2019 Field Training Officer 02/06/2020 Tactical Communication 10/29/2020 Arrest and Control Technique Update 11 /23/2020 Force Options Simulator Policy Acknowledgments: Officer Etherton has acknowledged 122 of 158 policies as of April 27, 2021. Many of these policies are related to using force, tactical communication, and decision -making. A list of the policies and whether they were acknowledged is attached. He was placed on Administrative leave on December 8, 2020. Findings: My investigation revealed Officer Etherton did not exercise good decision -making when he decided to shot at Mason Lira. Officer Etherton was standing behind his team approximately 10-15 feet when Mason Lira appeared in the vineyard approximately 100 yards away. In front of Officer Etherton was the majority of his SWAT team who were in a kneeling position. All of Officer Etherton's shots were from a standing position and he admitted in his interview with SLOSO Detective and myself that he did shoot while moving. Not only was shooting from a standing platform less stable than his teammate's kneeling position he would have been shooting from behind their location and possibly over their heads depending on exactly where they were when rounds were fired. During the entire interview, Officer Etherton maintained his shooting platform was more than adequate. He never submitted to the fact that the seven operators in front of him who were in a kneeling position would have been adequate and it was safer to allow them to take the shot on suspect Mason Lira. This is a concern when looking into the decision -making of Officer Blake Etherton. He was unable to recognize his shooting location and platform were not the safest and most �9 advantageous place to shoot at Mason Lira from. Officer Blake Etherton didn't take into consideration the availability of other reasonable and feasible options and their possible effectiveness. There were numerous other SWAT officers closer to and in a better location to take the shot on Mason Lira. Officer Etherton should have also taken into consideration the potential for injury to officers in front of him when he fired his rifle at Mason Lira. Lexipol 300.3.2 -Factors Used to Determine the Reasonableness of Force - Sustained Lexipol 339.5.11- Safety- Sustained Recommendations: I recommend this case be forwarded to Lt. Mickel for review. Respectfully Submitted, Lieutenant John Villanti 10