The shooting death of a man by officers from Santa Maria Police Department during a domestic violence incident on June 5 was ruled justified following an investigation by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
The series of events leading up to the shooting is detailed in a report, which was released to the public on Dec. 14.
On June 5, the SMPD dispatch received a 911 call at 9:36 p.m. from 50-year-old Santa Maria resident Jesus Gomez Quezada, who informed the operator that he stabbed his wife, Teresa Quezada, several times in the stomach.
While on the phone, Quezada reportedly told the operator he would “shoot anyone who walked by, including citizens.”
A second call to 911 came two minutes later, at 9:38 p.m., from Juan Meza, Quezada’s brother-in-law, who told dispatchers that he had received a call from Quezada telling him “good-bye,” the report states.
Police and members of the SWAT team arrived on scene at Quezada’s home in the 300 block of West Williams Street with a Peacekeeper armored vehicle. They made contact with Quezada and urged him to surrender.
Quezada told police he was armed with a loaded rifle—which eventually turned out to be a pellet gun, the report states—and a handgun, which apparently Quezada was holding in his hands along with the rifle.
“Do your job as a cop if I come outside with guns,” Quezada reportedly told officers. “Just do your jobs. That’s all I’m asking.”
Quezada came out of the house armed with his rifle, which was “perpendicular” to his body, the report states.
A 40-millimeter non-lethal round was fired at Quezada, but it missed. Quezada then “spun towards the officers” and took aim with his rifle, at which point SMPD detective Nathan Totorica opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, striking Quezada several times.
Medics on scene performed CPR on Quezada, but he died a short time later. Quezada’s wife was found dead inside the home.
A legal justification of the shooting is provided at the bottom of the 11-page report, which can be found on the district attorney’s website at countyofsb.org/da.
This article appears in Dec 24-31, 2015.