Slain man had jumped off boat
A cruise ship dancer who was killed by police Saturday night had jumped 30 feet off a deck into San Diego Bay before getting into a fatal struggle with officers who were trying to save him, officials said Monday.
Steven Hirschfield, 37, a performer and bodybuilder who lived in West Hollywood, voluntarily leaped into the water during Saturday night’s Circuit Daze harbor cruise, a dance party attended by about 900 revelers as part of gay-pride celebrations.
He initially rebuffed rescue efforts, then grabbed an officer’s Taser gun onboard a police boat, shot him in the face with it and was trying to get that officer’s handgun, police said. At that point, another officer shot Hirschfield.
The wounded officer, 20-year veteran Clyde Williams, was treated at a local hospital and released Sunday, officials said. He and Wayne Schmidt, the officer who fired the fatal shot, have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
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