Man Slain by Officer on I-5 Remains Unidentified

The San Diego police officer who shot and killed a man on Interstate 5 Monday has been given some days off by his supervisor and will be placed on administrative duty when he returns to work later this week, officials said Tuesday.

An autopsy of the still unidentified dead man was conducted Tuesday. A deputy county coroner said the man died of multiple gunshot wounds, but would not say how many times the man was hit or what part of his body was struck by the officer’s bullets. Deputy Coroner George Dickason said fingerprints were taken from the body for attempted identification.

Officials believe the man was Latino and several pieces of paper found on him were sent to the Mexican consulate in San Diego, said Ken Bell, a deputy county coroner. The papers appeared to contain personal messages written in Spanish and were sent to the consulate “to see if they can make anything out of it,” Bell said.

The man had keloid scars on his upper arms. The scars, which resemble blisters, are about 1 inch wide by 3 inches long, officials said. There is one on his upper left arm and another on the upper right arm.

The shooting is being investigated by the Police Department and the information gathered will be sent to the district attorney’s office, said Dave Cohen, a spokesman for the department.

Officer Thomas K. O’Connell went to the aid of two California Highway Patrol officers who were trying to subdue a man who had been walking along the freeway and reportedly had swung a cement trowel at them.