Tonight, Emil Rivers continues to recover in the Western Regional Hospital - after he was shot by police on Saturday. Meanwhile an internal police investigation into the circumstances of the shooting of this civilian is ongoing.
But, tonight, there are serious doubts about the credibility of the storyline that police have put forward - and some of those doubts have been cast by the commissioner himself.
Jules Vasquez reports on a series of telling elisions, obfuscations and misrepresentations:
The last time we saw PC Sheldon Arzu was in 2005 - when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for using excessive force when he shot and killed a man in the police station.
He lost an appeal, served his time and somehow was allowed to re-enlist in the police department where he has been assigned to the Independence Police station.
On Saturday his paths crossed with 24 year old Emil Rivers - who police were detaining for an alleged aggravated assault.
Police say that he escaped and two officers tried to subdue him:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"He ran from the police who were cleaning the cell. He went to a nearby house where it is alleged that he armed himself with a machete. The police cornered him, attempts were made to disarm him from the machete, a warning shot was fired but that did not work. At some point the police officer shot him to the leg. He's presently admitted in a stable condition. As in every police shooting, an investigation will be carried out by the professional standards branch."
According to an internal police report leaked to 7News, PC Arzu "shouted in a commanding voice to Emil Rivers….that police would have to shoot him..." It goes on, quote, "PC Arzu, fearful of the threat the individual posed, took aim at his leg and fired a single shot with the police-issued .38 pistol; however, the individual still didn't release the machete. PC Arzu then took a shot at his leg again, and upon the individual releasing the machete, he was quickly subdued..."
Except that is untrue; he wasn't shot in the leg; he was shot in his back and in his abdomen, rupturing his intestine.
Today, in a remarkable Facebook comment the commissioner cooly conceded that Romero lied. He said "...the individual was shot in the abdomen and I don't think the identity of the officer is relevant at this time."
Of course, he doesn't think it's relevant because legitimate questions about how a cop convicted of killing a man in the police station could be back in the department.
The victim's mother says she's angry that they shot her son but relieved that they didn't kill him:
Voice of: Marlene Rivers, Mother of Shooting Victim
"If they had shoot him in his foot claiming he was running, I would have accepted it, Jules. Why in a my son abdomen, why? Or why in a my son back? If this man is trying to run away from you, you got no right to shoot him in the back, he is not a threat to you because he's not facing you. And it was in his upper back like his head they were aiming for."
The commissioner adds that the only question is whether the shooting is justified - indeed, it may be - but the question of how a convicted killer cop ended up back in the department is also a compelling one.
And the other question of how a blatant mistruth could so easily enter a police report and the mouth of the police press officer - brings into doubt the credibility of the entire police account.
We expect to hear from the Commissioner of Police on this tomorrow.
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