Four days after a man was shot to death by a police officer *
– an incident that hasn’t happened in Gilroy in more than 15 years – officials remain tight-lipped.
GILROY
Four days after a man was shot to death by a police officer *– an incident that hasn’t happened in Gilroy in more than 15 years – officials remain tight-lipped.
At 7:38 p.m. Friday, officer Eustaquio “Paco” Rodriguez, a six-year veteran of the Gilroy Police Department, was headed westbound on Highway 152 west of San Felipe Road, on his way back form serving a subpoena in Gustine, when he spotted Gurmit Singh, 33, lying on the road, partially in the roadway with his head over the white line, Sheriff’s Sgt. Dalia Rodriguez said.
Singh had been involved in a violent dispute with family members prior to being left on the side of the road, Dalia Rodriguez said. So violent, that “the family did not find it safe for him to be in the vehicle,” she added. After dropping him off, they drove in search of help or a call box, she said.
When Eustaquio Rodriguez stopped to render aid, Singh attacked the officer, provoking him to pull his gun and fire. Singh was pronounced dead several hours after being airlifted to San Jose Regional Hospital.
Singh’s license revealed that he was 5-feet 9-inches tall and weighed 170 pounds, said Sgt. Herman Leon, the investigating sergeant at the Sheriff’s Office. Meanwhile, Leon provided a ballpark estimate of Eustaquio Rodriguez’s height and weight: 5-feet 5-inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. Leon said he could not describe what provoked Eustaquio Rodriguez to fire his weapon and he could not provide information pertaining to whether Singh was armed, what type of weapon the officer used and how many shots were fired or what family members were in the car with Singh during the altercation.
Friends of the family said Singh’s parents still reside in India and his wife and two children live in Seattle, Wash. and were not in the car with Singh Friday night.
While Singh’s family was reluctant to share their reaction to Friday night’s incident, Leon said that the Sheriff’s Office had been in touch with the family and would offer assistance and guidance should they have any questions.
Interim Chief Scot Smithee said that a number of actions on Singh’s part could have provoked the officer to discharge his weapon and that situations like these “do not happen often.”
The officer, who was not injured in the attack, has been placed on administrative leave while the Gilroy Police Department conducts an internal investigation – protocol for an officer-involved shooting, Dalia Rodriguez said.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation which will also be monitored by the district attorney. In the meantime, the GPD is conducting its own administrative investigation, GPD Interim Chief of Police Scot Smithee said.
“The less I’m involved, the better,” Smithee said. “We want it to be an independent, impartial investigation.”
He did not know how long the officer would be placed on leave although he did say that the leave was standard protocol following the “traumatic event.”
Smithee and Leon could not provide many details into the ongoing investigation but said that “eventually, everything will be released.”
The incident was the second major attack on a police officer in three months. In mid-November, Pete Joseph Valdez III pulled a gun on Gilroy officer John Ballard and pulled the trigger multiple times, police said. The gun jammed and Ballard, with the assistance of another officer, managed to wrestle Valdez into submission.
Valdez has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer – which carries a life sentence – among other charges and is next scheduled to appear at the South County Courthouse Feb. 22.
A police officer hasn’t shot and killed a civilian in more than 15 years in Gilroy. In 1992, two civilians died after being shot by police, one in June and one in December. On June 2, 1992, Wayne Katashima, 24, was killed at the National Guard Armory on Wren after two police officers, Assistant Police Chief Vern Gardner and Corporal Dan Renville were wounded. Another civilian, Edward Roman Villasana, 35, was shot and killed on Dec. 3, 1992, after he emerged from his home on Carmel Street aiming a loaded semi automatic assault rifle.
