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AG's Office backs police use of force in Garcia shooting
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by John Davis, KUAM News
Friday, July 25, 2008
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It was an incident that happened 9 months ago, the tragic shooting of Rey Garcia at the Veteran's Cemetery. Last month police revealed their investigation findings saying officers involved in the shooting death of Garcia were justified for using deadly force. The actions of the police officers back in October of last year were backed up today by the Attorney General's Office.
Back in June Evelyn Cruz, the sister of Rey Garcia, said, "He was killed. He didn't have to die that way and I just think that they handled it wrong. I am sure that there could have been another way of handling the situation without having to add another death in the family."
Despite the Garcia family's contentions that GPD improperly handled the confrontation with Rey Garcia, today the Attorney General's Office released backed up the police department's findings.
According to the final report, the AG's office determined the use of deadly force against the 42 year–old at the Veteran's Cemetery in Piti was justified.
"It is our opinion based on the review of all the evidence, the interviews as well as based on the input from the forensic consultant here that there is no there are no criminal charges that will prosecuted, in our opinion, based on the evidence," said Assistant Attorney General, David Rivera. The prosecutor stated that through investigations performed by hired consultant, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Peter Collins, Garcia's death was tragic for both the police force and the Garcia family.
"His choice to deal with the situation was to provoke the police to engage in a response against him and he (Collins) cites in his report, which we summarize in our report a number of factors that are consistent with the phenomena, suicide by cop. By having someone else cause your death, it lessens the sinfulness of the act and number 2, it lessens the stigma associated with suicide," Rivera said.
The report also states that having former police officer and brother-in-law, Joe Cruz as a non–law enforcement negotiator would likely increase the possibility of escalating the situation.
"Whether it was a well founded intention or not, it unfortunately seemed to be the point that caused the deterioration of events," he said.
Read the AG's Office's report on the shooting of Rey Garcia
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