Gunman Was Alive on Ground When Deputy Shot Point-Blank

Robert Gary Taschner was still alive when he was shot point-blank by a sheriff’s deputy Dec. 5, according to a coroner’s report released Monday.

Taschner, a diagnosed schizophrenic with a passion for satanism and high-powered weaponry, also had enough methamphetamine in his body to cause violent and irrational behavior, according to the chief of the coroner’s laboratory. Taschner was shot after a lengthy and bloody siege in which a deputy was also slain.

Taschner, 37, unable to work because of mental instability and asthma, was shot repeatedly by Sheriff’s Department SWAT team members after he rushed from his tear gas-filled apartment on East Mission Avenue. Taschner, dressed in military camouflage garb, was firing a Chinese-made assault rifle as he ran from the door.

The final shot, delivered by Deputy Ronald Gonzalez and captured on film by a television crew, was fired just inches from Taschner’s face as he lay bleeding profusely on the sidewalk, with deputies pointing guns at his head.

An investigation by the Escondido Police Department concluded that Taschner was not handcuffed and still posed a threat to police when Gonzalez rushed forward and shot him.

The district attorney’s office, which reviews all officer-involved shootings in San Diego County, is reviewing the Escondido investigation, particularly the crucial question of whether Gonzalez was justified in firing the last shot.

There is also other evidence to be considered, including interviews with the deputies and bystanders.

Linda Miller, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller, said Monday that it may be several weeks before a review of the Escondido investigation is completed. She said the review is not going any slower or faster than other cases of officer-involved shootings.

The day after the shooting, Taschner’s mother, Sally, accused sheriff’s deputies of “executing” her troubled son. But Monday, she said the family wants to make no further public comments.

“We just want to deal with our grief and ride it out,” she said. “We want to get on with our lives.”

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jack Drown said the department will wait until the district attorney’s review is completed before deciding whether to have a separate internal investigation of the SWAT action. Sheriff’s homicide detectives cooperated with Escondido police during their inquiry.

Deputies Put on Paid Leave

Drown said all 16 deputies in the gun battle, including Gonzalez, were put on paid administrative leave and counseled by a psychiatrist before being cleared to return to duty. He said that is standard policy.

Drown said the key to deciding whether Gonzalez acted properly is whether it was logical that he felt that Taschner posed a threat.

“When you talk about a threat, you have to talk about the state of mind of that deputy and about the nature of the perceived threat,” Drown said. “That is one of the primary things the D.A. has to decide. . . . Our position has been that all the shots were appropriate that day. We haven’t changed our opinion in the least.”

A report done by deputy coroner G.D. Dickason concluded: “While on the front sidewalk, at 4:38 p.m., (Taschner) was shot by law enforcement personnel present, and subsequently expired.”

An autopsy done by Dr. Ronald L. Rivers, the coroner’s chief medical examiner, indicated that Taschner suffered numerous gunshot and buckshot wounds, which fractured his pelvis, vertebrae, ribs, skull and forearm, and ripped through his brain, lungs, intestines and chest.

Unlike Dickason, Rivers did not deal with the issue of whether Taschner was still alive when shot by Gonzalez.

A toxicology report done by Richard F. Shaw, chief of the coroner’s laboratory, found methamphetamine and amphetamines in Taschner’s blood, liver and urine.

Shaw, in an interview, said the amounts were within or well above levels that studies have shown can cause paranoia and violent, irrational and delusional behavior.

In the days after the shooting, Escondido police said Taschner was a known drug user and had been arrested Dec. 1 on multiple weapons and drug charges. The coroner’s report said he had a “history of bizarre behavior.”

The Dec. 5 confrontation, which left Deputy Lonny Brewer dead and two other deputies wounded, began when Taschner barricaded himself in his apartment and began firing.

Escondido police were the first to the scene. They later called for the sheriff’s SWAT squad, which deals with hostage and barricade incidents.

Brewer and the other deputies were shot when the squad rushed the apartment about 10 a.m. Deputies bombarded the apartment with tear gas just after 4:30 p.m., and Taschner came out firing.

The coroner’s report says Taschner, 5-foot-7 and 134 pounds, was carrying two handkerchiefs when he died--a black one “with a picture of Satan, some devils and fire” and one with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle insignia.

He carried two “small, lead-colored statues of naked women, one with a pair of weights.” He wore four rings, including one with an eagle and the words “American Biker.”

He had tattoos of a bluebird and a motorcycle on his chest, a large numeral 3 on his left arm, and a scorpion and a large bird on his back.

The report says Taschner was on disability from the Army because of severe asthma and had suffered allergies in Escondido. He was divorced and the father of a young daughter.