San Diego Police Captain Mary Corticelli says an 18-year-old boy who police shot dead over the weekend had a toy gun in his car. Corticelli says San Diego Police officers Louis Galante and Jack Pearson saw Noe Rojas run a stop sign late Saturday night. The officers followed Rojas and found him stopped in a driveway. Corticelli says the toy gun and other factors lead the officers to shoot.
Corticelli: This backward and forward motion with the vehicle, it being dark, his non-compliance to verbal commands, and attempts to physically restrain him...the officers believed they were going to be struck by the vehicle, or possibly, that the suspect was going to be able to reach that weapon.
Rojas allegedly accelerated his car toward the officers just before they opened fire. Corticelli says Rojas spoke English and seemed to understand the officers' commands. The shooting comes on the heels of a petition by two San Diego citizen's groups asking the state Attorney General to investigate officer involved shootings in the county. The groups say just two out of 148 such incidents during the last ten years have resulted in criminal charges.
