Opinion ID: 1035758
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: m. I saw the door to the patio open, and then

Text: at 8:11:51 a.m. the suspect came out on the patio with a firearm in his left hand. I immediately broadcast this information over the radio. I saw Deputy Rogers take position to the east of the patio about 10–12 feet from where the suspect stood, and Deputy Morris moved his position closer to my west side. I began to shout commands to the suspect, such as: “Sheriff’s Department,” “Show me your hands,” and “Drop the gun.” At this time the suspect held the gun down towards the yard, and he appeared to be GEORGE V. MORRIS 49 scanning the backyard looking for the direction of my voice. I saw the suspect manipulate the gun with his right hand in what appeared to me a move to take off the safety on his gun. I heard the suspect say, “No you won’t.” I then saw the suspect lift his gun and point it directly at Deputy Rogers. Fearing for the safety of Deputy Rogers I shot at the suspect. After firing two shots I saw the suspect fall to the ground. I immediately began to run towards the patio. I heard one more shot. When I got closer to the patio I saw the suspect lying on the ground with his gun lying on the center of his chest. Next, I turn to Deputy Morris: Once I arrived at the “3-4” corner in the backyard I stayed in position, gathering information and broadcasting my observations over radio. I stayed in this position for approximately seven minutes until Deputy Schmidt announced (over the radio) at 8:11:51 a.m. that he saw the suspect on the back patio with a firearm in his left hand. Once I heard Deputy Schmidt’s report, I moved closer to the patio to aid Deputy Schmidt. I positioned myself to the west of 50 GEORGE V. MORRIS Deputy Schmidt. From that position I was able to see the suspect with the gun in his hand, and he appeared to be pushing a buggy or a bicycle. I saw Deputy Rogers take a position to the east of the patio where the suspect stood. At this time the suspect held the gun down towards the yard, and I heard Deputy Schmidt shouting commands to him, such as, “Drop the gun,” “Show me your hands,” and “Sheriff’s Department.” The suspect appeared to be scanning the backyard looking for the direction of Deputy Schmidt’s voice. I then saw the suspect lift his gun, turn eastward, and point his gun directly at Deputy Rogers. Fearing for the safety of Deputy Rogers I fired at the suspect. Lawrence Hess was Schmidt’s, Rogers’s, and Morris’s supervisor. He heard the initial dispatch call to the George residence and arrived shortly after his deputies. This is his input: I arrived at [address omitted] at approximately 8:06:51. I parked my vehicle on San Antonio Creek Road, north of Via Gennita. I walked down Via Gennita and I found Deputy Hudley talking with a woman, Carol George, behind his patrol vehicle. Deputy Hudley told me Mrs. George was the reporting party, that her husband was GEORGE V. MORRIS 51 depressed, recently had brain surgery to remove a tumor, and that she had secured all of the firearms that she could find in the home because of his depression. Mrs. George explained that her husband had been frustrated, angry and argued with her that morning. He produced a handgun and she called 9-1-1 for help. I used Deputy Hudley’s cell phone to call the George’s house telephone. Mr. George did not answer but an answering machine activated. I repeatedly called out to Mr. George over the telephone and into the answering machine to come to the phone in an attempt to open dialogue with him. Mr. George did not answer. During this attempted phone call I heard one of the deputies in the backyard shouting commands, such as “Drop it” and “Put it down.” I next heard several gun shots. Shortly thereafter I heard radio transmissions advising “Shots fired” and “Suspect down” with medical assistance requested. I quickly walked to the backyard and instructed Deputy Hudley to stay with Mrs. George. In addition to the deputies’ declarations, we have bystander citizen information from Karla MacDuff corroborating their description of the sequence of events and the deputies’ warnings before the shooting started. MacDuff 52 GEORGE V. MORRIS was a guest and a friend of the Georges who was living in the lower apartment level of the house. According to MacDuff, she was awakened at approximately 7:45 a.m. that morning by someone excitedly shouting “Drop the gun.” She heard this command two times. After these commands, then she heard “quite a few gunshots.” There is nothing relevant in the record that challenges her information. Finally, Deputy Rogers’s shot that hit Mr. George entered into the front of his body and emerged through the rear. This evidence indicates that Mr. George had turned to face Deputy Rogers—who was stationed to the left side of Mr. George when he walked onto the patio. I note that the photographs in the record are consistent with the deputies’ descriptions of their locations at the time of the shooting. Was Mr. George suicidal? Was he planning that morning to use his gun? Mrs. George thought so. Pam Plesons, her friend and neighbor, recounts this conversation with her on the morning immediately after the shooting: A. . . . So as a result of his stroke he was incontinent that night and apparently woke up very depressed, and Carol told me that he asked her to leave the house, and she said that she did not want to leave him alone and she was afraid for him because she thought that he might commit suicide. And she told me that she didn’t believe there were any guns in the house, but apparently he had gone to the truck in the driveway and there was a gun in the glove compartment of the truck, and that he had come back in the house with it. GEORGE V. MORRIS 53 Q. Okay. Did Carol tell you that she was concerned about Don was suicidal? A. She told me that one of the doctors they were working with had warned her that he thought he might become suicidal or was suicidal and to make sure that anything that was of danger to him in the house was removed. Q. Did Carol tell you that she had locked up or she had thought she locked up all the guns? A. Uh-huh, that’s why she didn’t think that there was anything that he could get to. Q. Did Carol tell you why she thought Don asked her to leave that morning? A. He said that he just wanted to go out and sit on the back patio and enjoy the morning. She said that she felt that he was going to commit suicide.