SAN DIEGOSAN DIEGO — Four San Diego officers involved in two separate police shootings this week were identified on Thursday.
The first shooting happened Sunday night in the Chollas View neighborhood. Officer Robert Gladysz shot and wounded a man holding his 11-month-old daughter after the father allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun and then took the couple’s infant, officials said.
The woman reported the incident around 10:20 p.m. saying her ex-boyfriend was outside her apartment on 47th Street, threatening to shoot through the door, sheriff’s Lt. Michael Krugh said. Fearing the man was going to open fire, the woman let him into the apartment, where the man pointed a gun at her, threatened to shoot her and took their child, Krugh said.
Police found the man hiding in a bush at an apartment complex a few blocks away and ordered him to come out with his hands up. Gladysz then opened fire, striking the man once. The child was not hurt, Krugh said. The wounded man was taken to a hospital and was later arrested on suspicion of several charges, including domestic violence and endangering a child.
The second shooting happened the next morning in the Moreno area. Three officers — Matthew Steinbach, Michael Howells and Justin Tellam — fatally shot a robbery suspect after he took a hostage and held a knife to the victim’s throat, authorities said.
The incident started about 10:40 a.m. when police responded to a reported robbery at a store on Morena Boulevard. According to Krugh, a man tried to leave the business with merchandise he didn’t pay for, and when a clerk tried to stop him, he pulled out a knife and threatened her.
Police quickly arrived and found the man on nearby Napa Street. Krugh said they tried to stop him, but he refused to give up.
The officers shot him with a Taser stun gun but it “had no effect on him,” Krugh said. The suspect instead ran to a homeless encampment off Friars Road, where he grabbed a man and held a knife to his neck, Krugh said.
The three officers opened fire and the suspect went down. Officers began to perform life-saving measures until medics arrived and took over, but the man died. His name will not be released until his family has been notified.
The Sheriff’s Department is investigating both incidents under a countywide agreement ensuring no department investigates its own police shootings. Video footage of both cases is expected to be released next week.
