Officer Involved in Fatal Shooting Had Used His Gun Before

One of the three Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed a robbery suspect as he slowly backed his car toward them is a decorated eight-year veteran with two prior shootings -- including another at a moving car -- officials said Tuesday

Officer Manuel Solis, 30, previously fired at two suspects in 1998, department records show. Both shootings were found to be justified.

The two other officers, Arturo Ramirez and Carlos Ocegueda, also fired at a car driven by Nicholas Hans Killinger outside Santa Monica High School at the conclusion of a 90-minute pre-dawn chase Monday.

Killinger, 23, died an hour after the officers, “fearing for their lives,” fired into the back window of the car, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Art Miller said. Killinger had allegedly robbed an Agoura Hills gas station at knifepoint and led various law enforcement agencies on a wild traffic pursuit before the three officers fired upon him.

Solis won the LAPD’s Medal of Valor for his actions in a bloody Jan. 15, 1998, shootout with a man armed with an assault rifle. Solis, whose face was grazed by bullet fragments, helped drag his more seriously wounded partner to safety as the gunman fired

The shooting came after Solis and his partner responded to a domestic violence call at a Lake View Terrace home. A gunman was standing at a window and fired at officers with a semiautomatic weapon, striking one officer. Solis pulled his partner out of harm’s way as other officers fired at the suspect, who was captured after his gun jammed.

In the second incident, also in 1998, Solis attempted to apprehend a suspected narcotics dealer. The man stopped his car and opened the door, but then accelerated toward other officers. Solis fired one round at the driver, who escaped but was later captured.

“Generally, shooting at moving vehicles is prohibited, however, I find this incident is an exception,” then-LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks concluded in a report summarizing a review of the incident.

Parks wrote that it was reasonable to believe the suspect presented “an immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death” and there were no alternatives.

Monday’s shooting has already generated protests from Killinger’s family. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the Santa Monica Police Department are investigating the shooting.

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said investigators will review the shooting “with a fine-tooth comb” to determine whether the officers followed the department’s guidelines.

Bratton is seeking to more closely restrict Los Angeles police officers’ ability to shoot at vehicles that pose a threat.