Gunshot by officer, not rollover, cited for teen's death
A teen who wrecked his car after a police officer shot him in self-defense died of the gunshot, not as a result of the vehicle rollover, according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.
Gonzalo Cordova, 17, suffered a fatal gunshot wound when a group of teenagers stole beer and beef jerky from a Maryvale convenience store.
Police records released this week detail how one of two responding officers "felt in fear for his life" as the boy accelerated in the direction of one officer who was trapped between his parked patrol vehicle and the boy's Chevrolet Cavalier positioned in the parking lot at Indian School Road and 59th Avenue.
Phoenix Officer Robert Sauceda fired twice at Cordova, striking the boy twice as he sat behind the wheel of the getaway car during the Dec. 19 incident, two days before Cordova's 18th birthday.
As Sauceda's partner, Officer Warren Tittlemier, chased some of the teens on foot out of the parking lot, Sauceda said he could have been struck by the boy's vehicle.
"As Officer Sauceda started to run around the front of his police vehicle he heard the squealing of tires. . . . Sauceda backed up and was prevented from backing because of his police vehicle," investigators wrote in the police report.
Phoenix Police Professional Standards Bureau investigators are still reviewing the case, officials said. Officer-involved shooting reviews can take up to six months for police departments to complete internally.
Well, Gonzalo... I wonder if this beer and jerky tastes better than turning 18, because now you got neither. Was this a righteous shooting by the officer, or should he have gotten injured or killed because he didn't have all the facts before shooting? We, the common citizens, are told the best way to react to a robbery is to just give them what they want. Monday morning quarterbacks, I'm sure, will have something to say.
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