Police Officer Fatally Shoots Armed Suspect

A San Diego police officer fatally shot a man who pulled a knife as the officer attempted to detain him early Sunday, police said.

Officers Derek Diaz and Timothy Zetterlund responded to a report of an auto theft in progress in the 4600 block of Hawley Boulevard at 12:30 a.m. They encountered three men, one of whom was “obviously armed with a large knife,” police said.

Two of the men were walking on the sidewalk, and Zetterlund told them to lie down, which they did. The third man, Gregory J. Markley, ran into the street in front of the police car. Diaz ordered him to stop and put his hands on the patrol car, said Dave Cohen, a San Diego Police Department spokesman.

“The guy was acting very nervous and suspicious, and the officer, who had his gun drawn, told him, ‘I think you’re armed, don’t move your hands from the car, don’t do anything sudden,’ ” Cohen said.

“(Markley) then took his hands from the car and turned away from the officer and moved his hands toward his waist area,” Cohen said.

Diaz, standing about 5 feet away, then fired once, hitting Markley in the chest. Markley, 27, was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he later died.

“This individual knew that this was a police officer and had his gun out and told him not to move, and he did what he did and it cost him his life,” Cohen said.

A knife, with a blade of “at least six inches,” was found at the scene, along with a set of bolt-cutters, Cohen said.

The other men were questioned, but neither has been arrested, Cohen said.

Markley, a transient, had apparently broken into a car parked in the driveway of a nearby house, Cohen said.

In accordance with Police Department policy, Diaz, who has been on the police force since May, 1987, has been assigned to administrative duty until the district attorney determines if the shooting was justifiable.