San Diego Officer in Shooting Fired : Police: Department officials ruled that his use of weapon was justified. But they say he erred by putting himself in a dangerous situation.

The San Diego Police Department has fired an officer for placing himself in a dangerous situation that led to his shooting a suspect.

The Police Department and the district attorney already had ruled that the shooting was justified. But police officials decided that Officer George C. Kathan acted rashly by standing directly in front of a car, gun drawn, and ordering a suspect to stop.

At a news conference Wednesday, where he was joined by his attorney and the president of the San Diego police union, Kathan, an 11-year patrol officer, said he was stunned by his firing.

“I was totally unjustly treated,” he said.

Kathan, 35, was fired this month when his disciplinary file reached Police Chief Bob Burgreen. Kathan’s immediate superiors had recommended that he receive a formal reprimand; commanders in the department determined that Kathan should be given an eight-day suspension.

Citing confidentiality laws, Police Cmdr. Larry Gore said he could not specifically discuss Kathan’s case.

But in general, he said, “one of our expectations of our officers is that, given other options, you don’t place yourself in front of a car that you expect is going to flee because it’s an inappropriate action.”

The driver shot by Kathan, Jerry Dean Drumel, suffered major brain damage, lost his speech and is expected to face a long period of rehabilitation.

Kathan’s attorneys and San Diego police union President Harry O. Eastus speculated that public outrage over the police beating of Rodney G. King may have contributed to what they called the department’s “knee-jerk reaction.” Kathan said he was first notified that he was to be punished March 15.

“We are getting flooded with disciplinary packages for petty stuff that never would have happened before,” said Everett Bobbitt, another union attorney. “The department knows full well we can’t get hearings at Civil Service for more than a year. They’ll fire anyone who could have possibly violated a policy and let the Civil Service Commission decide to reinstate them. That way, they avoid blame.”