Gunman in CHP Officer’s Shooting Shot Self Before He Was Killed

In another twist to a violent case, an autopsy concluded Friday that Terry James Parker shot himself in the mouth shortly before pursuing police opened fire and killed him.

Parker fled after he had shot and critically wounded CHP Officer Rafael “Ralph” Casillas during a confrontation that began early Wednesday morning after a high-speed chase on the San Diego Freeway.

Casillas was in critical condition Friday with stable vital signs at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, a spokeswoman said.

Casillas’ second operation, which lasted more than two hours Friday night, “produced no surprises,” said surgeon Dantae Davies.

Davies declined to make a long-term prognosis, saying only that he was “cautiously optimistic” that Casillas would pull through. “It’s a little better than we thought it would be at this point,” Davies said. “He’s very lucky to be alive.”

The autopsy showed that Parker would have died from the self-inflicted wound, but was killed by an undetermined number of shots fired by three police officers who were closing in on him.

“There were powder burns on the roof of his mouth, suggesting he took his own life,” said coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier. “The bullet penetrated the brain and exited through the skull, and he would have died. It would have been a fatal injury.”

Parker wished he had died during a 1994 confrontation with police in which he was wounded, he told his father, according to court records of that incident.

“How prophetic,” said LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride. “This guy was really trying to commit suicide. His actions show that.”

Parker, who was released from prison a month ago, had a long and increasingly violent criminal past.

Police were pursuing Parker after he had led two CHP officers on a chase from the San Diego Freeway to his Harvest Street home in Granada Hills. It was a scenario similar to one two years ago in which Parker also led police on a pursuit to his home. In the earlier incident, police shot and wounded him.

This time, Parker ran inside his house, later opening his front door and shooting at Casillas and his partner, James Portilla, as they tried to enter. According to police, Parker fled, stopped to buy cigarettes at a local gas station and hid near a tennis court on Rinaldi Street.

Acting on a tip from a clerk at the gas station, Los Angeles Police Department officers found Parker hiding in some bushes.

“They’re getting ready to approach the bush and a gunshot goes off,” McBride said. “They already know it’s him and they respond.”

Two of the officers told detectives that they saw the gun in Parker’s hand at about the same time they heard the gunshot, McBride said.

“All three felt they were being fired upon,” he said. “Almost simultaneously, they fired at him.”

The autopsy showed that Parker was shot by the officers “within seconds” after shooting himself. He had numerous bullet wounds and shotgun pellets in his upper body, Carrier said. The death is being ruled a homicide because Parker was apparently still alive when he was shot by police.

Pending a review of the shooting, McBride said he believes the officers did nothing wrong.

“It’ll be a justifiable homicide,” McBride said. “The officers were in fear of their life when they fired.”

CHP Officer Steve Tabor, who described himself as a close friend of Casillas, was at Holy Cross hospital on Friday, waiting for word on the operation, when he heard the report that Parker apparently shot himself. “As long as he’s dead, I don’t really care how he got that way,” Tabor said. “Right now I’m only thinking about Ralph getting better.”

Friday’s operation was needed to clean up the initial surgery to repair bullet damage to Casillas’ liver, pancreas and gallbladder and to check for infection, Davies said. Though Casillas cannot talk because he is on a ventilator, he is aware of what is happening to him and can communicate with friends and family by using his hands, Davies said.

“Everyone’s concerns and prayers are appreciated,” said the wounded officer’s sister Theresa Gonzalez, with brother Javier Casillas and sister Margie Casillas at her side. “Keep Ralph in your prayers.”

Parker’s father had said earlier that his son was “paranoid” and believed that police had a conspiracy against him.

Parker’s criminal history included drug and alcohol convictions. Three months after the April 1994 confrontation with police, he barricaded himself in his house, fired a weapon and refused to come out. Police lobbed tear gas into the home and Parker surrendered.

Times correspondent Darrel Satzman contributed to this story.