Coroner’s Report Contradicts Police, Suggests Gunman Didn’t Kill Officer

One of the two officers killed during a shoot-out outside a downtown doughnut shop was killed by a shotgun blast, not by the pistol the gunman carried, a coroner’s office official said Thursday.

The coroner’s report, which suggested that Officer Gordon Silva was killed as other officers fired at the gunman, was issued just after an estimated 3,000 people gathered for a memorial service for the two slain officers.

John Mamok, chief investigator for the Santa Clara County coroner’s office, said Silva died from a shotgun blast to the abdomen.

He said two other wounds, to Silva’s legs, were superficial. It could not be determined whether the superficial wounds were from a pistol, he said.

Police had reported that Silva and Officer Gene Simpson were fatally shot by Dale Randy Connors, who had taken Simpson’s .357-caliber pistol during a brief struggle.

But the coroner’s report contradicts that version, because Connors only carried the pistol during the shoot-out and apparently did not have access to a shotgun.

Connors was later killed by other police officers.