Around 11 this morning, gunshots were fired near the Michael Finnegan Market. According to reports, the victim, 25 year old Edward Saldano Jr, was riding his bicycle on King Street when an officer recognized him as someone who was wanted for discharging a firearm in public. The officer followed him to the market and found him inside a food stall, hiding below the counter. The officer then ordered him to lie on the ground, after which the police report claims Saldano reached into the waist of his pants to pull out a firearm. A struggle ensued and that's when the cop shot Saldano in the foot.
And while there's a lot more than two sides to every story, Saldano's mother came to our studio to tell us their version of events. Courtney Menzies spoke to her and has this story.
A shooting at the market left vendors and buyers scattering for safety. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that 25 year old Edward Saldano Jr otherwise known as Scrubby was shot in the foot by a police officer. He is seen here holding his leg.
Cops say he had a gun but his mother says they are taking advantage of him.
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim
"He went to buy juice and tamales in a store he usually goes. He said a police walked in, told him 'you're wanted,' and when the police told him he was wanted, he put his hand behind his back and the police threw him on the ground, handcuffed him, and then shot him. That's what I got from him and then I have other people saying the same thing. but then they're saying, I listened to the news just now and they say he went to rob. Not because you're always picking him up, it's because he went to rob. He knew the people in the stall and if the people want to talk they could say the truth. And he didn't have any gun on him."
Courtney Menzies:
"That's what the police are saying to justify."
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim
"That's what they're saying, they will always say something because they don't like the Saldanos."
Courtney Menzies:
"How is your son doing now?"
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim
"Well they made me see him and he has the thing on his foot. So they said he's okay but he was explaining to me and said he went to buy and he surrendered himself and the same police that already shot him three months ago, the same police shot him. That's what he said, ma, the same police shot me again. So most naturally he want to kill him. if nobody was there he would have killed him."
And Saldano isn't a stranger to the law. But Martinez says that's no reason to harass him.
Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim
"I'm not saying that he's not always on the news but sometimes it's not every time things happen they did it. Most of the time things happen, the first place they come it's my house. They don't even want to find out what is the problem, as they year Saldano they want to come to my house or look for Saldano at other spots. You have to get your information, your facts straight then you deal with your investigation."
"I know they will try to put it on him but I'm going further, I'm going higher because this won't go like this. The fourth, first, second, no man, I will not."
Police reports say that the cops later found a 9mm pistol with 14 live rounds of ammunition.
Saldano is recovering at the hospital under police guard.
| 