Subj: Another Cop Shooting - March 2000
Date: 8/22/2000 10:17:48 PM Central Daylight Time
Rookie Shoots Boy, Fellow Officer
Two Injured by Stray Gunshot on Training Mission
March 3, 2000
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A training mission for a rookie police officer turned tragic when the new lawman tried to shoot an attacking dog, but instead shot a fellow officer and an 11-year-old boy who had dialed 911 for help, authorities said.
Officer Julian Ng, who graduated from the police academy five weeks ago, hit Max Castro, 11, in the knee with a poorly aimed shot at one of the 11-year-old's dogs as it bit another officer inside the youth's Naples Street home, police said. Ng's shot also hit his training officer, Jennifer Dorantes, a five-year veteran, grazing her leg.
The accidental shooting Thursday has left the victim's family outraged and San Francisco police offering their apologies.
Ackerson said the incident began when Max allegedly got a threatening phone call from another boy who said he was going to "kill" him. The boy called 911 to report the threat, and officers were dispatched to the home.
When Ng and Dorantes got to the house, they immediately encountered the dog. Police said two dogs rushed at the officers as soon as the boy opened the door. One of them bit Dorantes on the buttocks several times.
Seeing his mentor being bitten, Ng pulled out his .40-caliber semiautomatic Beretta and fired one shot at the dog. It missed. Instead, the bullet grazed Dorante's leg, ricocheted off the house's steps and hit Max, traveling up his shinbone to his knee, police said.
Max and Dorantes were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where they are both in fair condition. None of the injuries are life-threatening.
Police said they believe the shooting was a terrible mistake, but it is being investigated by the department's homicide squad and the management control section, Ackerson said.
The boy's family has blasted the police in the press for how they treated the family after the shooting. They could not be reached for comment, but police admitted that they put the boy's father, Victor Castro, in handcuffs and placed him in a patrol car "until he calmed down" when he arrived at the scene of the shooting and became enraged.
Both officers involved in the shooting have been placed on desk jobs until the investigation of the shooting is finished.
Date: 3/26/2000 7:08:43 PM Central Standard Time