Probe of shooting by Sacramento County deputy will be fair, authorities insist

After David Kenneth Hamilton was killed Sunday, a team of investigators swarmed the Roseville motel parking lot where he was shot and began interviewing the triggerman.

The homicide scene was not unlike dozens of others, except for two important factors: The shooter was a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy, and the dead man was wanted on a murder charge.

The case has other layers of intrigue because Hamilton was being chased, and an autopsy revealed he was shot in the back.

Despite being faced with the somewhat rare situation of investigating one of their own, authorities said the inquiry into Hamilton's death will be fair. They say a system of checks and balances ensures that fatal shootings involving law enforcement officers are scrutinized even more than other homicides.

"Sometimes perception can be a huge issue, and people definitely want transparency and they want independence (in these investigations)," said Francine Tournour, director of the Sacramento Office of Public Safety Accountability, which examines shootings in the city of Sacramento and is not involved in the Hamilton case.

Over the past five years, 17 people have been killed by on-duty officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and Sacramento Police Department, according to Sacramento County coroner records. In each of those cases, authorities found that the officer did not break the law in taking someone's life.

Hamilton's case is slightly different in that the shooting took place in a jurisdiction outside of where the officer works. Detectives investigating a homicide in Foothill Farms tracked Hamilton to a Roseville motel.

The Roseville Police Department, which is leading the inquiry, said it could be weeks before it hands over its findings to the Placer County district attorney.

Typically, an agency's own homicide and internal affairs units will conduct investigations into officer-involved shootings. The detectives are shadowed from the start by an investigator from the District Attorney's Office, which makes the final decision on whether to press charges against the officer.

Detectives handle the incidents as they do crimes. Investigators create diagrams of the crime scene and speak to witnesses and the shooter. They often rely on a coroner's autopsy to determine whether the person who was shot had used drugs or alcohol.

In the city of Sacramento, Tournour monitors the investigation from the start, walking the crime scene and speaking with the officer involved.

"We want to have an independent review on behalf the public," Tournour said.

In Sacramento County, cases are investigated first by homicide and internal affairs investigators. The county's inspector general – the equivalent of Tournour's office – bases his inquiry on the findings of those investigators and does not respond to shooting scenes, officials said.

The inspector general, Lee Dean, could not be reached for comment Friday. Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said the roles played by Dean's office and district attorney investigators "assure a thorough investigation."

Most other jurisdictions in the region – including Roseville – do not have an independent watchdog to investigate shootings.

Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said Hamilton – suspected in the homicide of a 76-year-old man in Foothill Farms on Sunday – ran from deputies who had ordered him to stop outside the motel on Harding Boulevard. During the pursuit, Hamilton turned in the direction of an officer and reached for his waistband, the sheriff said.

The detective feared for his life and fired a single gunshot, striking Hamilton in the back, authorities said.

Roseville police said Hamilton was unarmed but was carrying a flashlight.

McGinness said it is possible the detective opened fire when Hamilton turned to face him and that a split-second delay on the officer's part could have led to Hamilton being shot in the back.

According to Sheriff's Department policy, deputies are justified in shooting a fleeing suspect if "the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect has committed or attempted to commit a violent crime."

Sheriff's Lt. Gordon Smith, the assistant commander of the department's training and education division, said state and federal law allows officers to kill suspects if they believe that person poses a serious threat.

"If you have someone who is out and has killed people in a robbery or home invasion or is a serial killer, you can use deadly force even if they're running away from you," he said. "When there is a danger to the citizens and the community, we have to do what we can to stop him from escaping."

That also means aiming for the parts of the body that form the largest targets: the chest and back. Smith said the notion that officers should aim for a suspect's legs or hands is "movie stuff."

"We need to do what's going to stop the threat," he said.

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