Six Officers Put on Leave After Shooting

Six Ventura County sheriff’s deputies were placed on administrative leave Monday pending an investigation of their involvement in the weekend shooting death of a distraught Thousand Oaks man.

Several witnesses and relatives of the slain man said they believe the deputies overreacted while trying to subdue Thomas Patton, 56.

But sheriff’s officials said Patton tried to slash one of the deputies with a knife moments before officers opened fire. Patton was hit by as many as 11 bullets, authorities estimated, and died Saturday evening at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks.

Under the circumstances, deputies had no choice but to shoot, said Alan Wisotsky, attorney for the Sheriff’s Department.

“If the department is going to be criticized for protecting one of their own, then, I’m sorry, but I don’t agree with that,” Wisotsky said. “Remember, Mr. Patton is the one who held all the cards. All he had to do was put the knife down and it would have been over.”

But Patton’s daughter, Tamara Schacht, 28, criticized the department for shooting a man she says was simply depressed over recently losing his job and would have never harmed anyone but himself.

“All he needed was to talk to somebody,” said Schacht, a Thousand Oaks resident. “He was just stressed about losing his job and not being able to provide as well as he did before. He was more or less trying to hurt himself more than them. He just needed love.”

While investigators for the district attorney’s office are still looking into whether the deputies acted appropriately, Wisotsky gave a detailed account of the domestic disturbance call that ended with Patton’s death.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, Patton’s wife, Jackie Patton, ran to a neighbor’s house and said that her husband had thrown a remote control at her during a heated argument, Wisotsky said. Neighbor Lisa Geary called 911.

Two deputies talked to Jackie Patton at Geary’s house before crossing the street to meet with Patton, who was standing in a makeshift garage near his house.

After a brief conversation, Patton pulled out a 12-inch kitchen knife, Wisotsky said, and began walking toward the deputies. He then ran to the backyard, then to the frontyard again, this time spotting his wife standing in the frontyard of the neighbor’s house across the street. Ignoring demands to drop the knife, Patton walked toward his wife, Wisotsky said.

Throughout the incident, Patton alternately pointed the blade at officers and at his own chest, Wisotsky said.

Police ordered Jackie Patton into the house as her husband began shouting that he intended to “take her with him,” Wisotsky said. As her husband tried to follow, deputies fired, hitting Patton at least once in his lower torso. He collapsed, but quickly got back to his feet and made his way to the side of his neighbor’s house, followed by two deputies. After failing to knock the knife free from Patton’s hand with his baton, a deputy tried to douse him with pepper spray.

Wisotsky said it’s unclear if Patton was affected by the spray, but he managed to cross the street again to his own house. At the front porch, Patton again refused to obey demands that he put down the knife. Instead, he charged at a deputy standing about 2 feet away, Wisotsky said. Six officers opened fire.

Patton was hit so many times, Wisotsky said, because officers are trained to shoot in quick, two-round successions.

“It’s boom-boom, then assess,” Wisotsky said. “Why? Because it’s a scary situation. It’s hard to hit someone who is moving in such a way as to stop a threat. So perhaps you have a better chance firing twice rather than once.”

All officers were placed on leave for a minimum of three days, which is standard procedure for any officer involved in a fatal shooting. During the time off, the officers will undergo psychological counseling and must have approval from the counselor and department officials before returning to duty.

Schacht said she is anxious for the investigation to begin, insisting authorities “went out of control and overboard.” The district attorney’s office investigates all officer-involved shootings to ensure proper procedures were followed. If not, officers could face criminal charges.

Schacht said that her father was depressed about losing his job as a printer and taking a job that paid much less, but that he was not on drugs and not drunk and easily could have been talked into dropping the knife.

“Every man has his problems,” she said. “When you don’t feel good about yourself, you don’t know how to react to things. But he would never kill anybody.”