Officer's fatal shooting of teen ruled justified - News

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Nov. 07, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CORRECTION ON 11/08/09 -- In Saturday’s Review-Journal, Las Vegas police detective Joel Kisner’s name was misspelled in a photo caption accompanying a coroner’s inquest story.

Officer's fatal shooting of teen ruled justified

Jurors rule mother's life was in danger

By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Watch the video

A video image from a Taser shows Tanner Chamberlain, 15, holding a knife near his mother, Evie Oquendo, seconds before the teen was fatally shot by police

Las Vegas police officer Derek Colling on Friday shows how 15-year-old Tanner Chamberlain held a knife to his mother's throat before he fatally shot Chamberlain on Sept. 29. A coroner's jury ruled Colling's actions were justified.

Las Vegas police detective Joel Kisner displays the knife 15-year-old Tanner Chamberlain held to his mother's throat before he was fatally shot.

Las Vegas police officer Derek Colling faced a packed courtroom Friday and stoically explained his decision to shoot a 15-year-old boy in the head on Sept. 29.

Colling said the boy, who suffered from a mental disorder, left him with no other choice when he held a knife to his mother's throat and ignored commands to drop the weapon.

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"I did what had to be done," the officer testified at a coroner's inquest. "He placed me, he placed all of us in that situation."

Seven jurors agreed and unanimously ruled the shooting justifiable.

Jury forewoman Cynthia Fuller said Colling convinced the jury that he believed the woman's life was in danger.

"Any twitch and she could have been murdered," Fuller said. "He had a shot and he took it. He's just lucky nobody else got hurt."

Tanner Chamberlain, a Chaparral High School student, died at the scene.

Jurors heard two hours of testimony, primarily from police officers, during the inquest. They also saw a 10-second video of the shooting and heard a recorded statement the teen's mother, Evie Oquendo, gave police shortly after the incident.

Oquendo, 49, has criticized the officer's actions since the shooting but did not attend the inquest. When contacted by telephone Friday, Oquendo said she "couldn't handle going" to the hearing but had been informed of the verdict.

"I'm sick over it because there's no way my son would have hurt me," she said before declining to comment further.

During her emotional police interview after the shooting, Oquendo said she and her son had moved into the Sunridge Apartment Homes at 4855 Vegas Valley Drive a week earlier.

Oquendo, a dealer at the Bellagio, said her son had stayed home from school the day of the shooting because he had been up all night. She said he suffered from bipolar disorder, a condition marked by extreme mood swings, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but refused to take the medication he had been prescribed.

"He hasn't had an episode since probably since May," she said.

She said her son had never hit her before, but "today he just really lost it."

Oquendo said she came home around 4 p.m., and her son helped her with the groceries before she told him to do his homework. He became enraged when she told him he could not go to a friend's house.

"He choked me, and he punched me in the head, and he kicked me in the stomach," Oquendo said.

The woman said she called her sister, who called police. The sister, Suzanne Oquendo, attended the inquest but declined to comment on it.

Evie Oquendo said her son, who had a collection of "Ninja knives," refused to let go of a knife he was holding during their confrontation. The woman, who also suffers from bipolar disorder, said her son took some of her anti-anxiety medication during the incident.

She recalled telling police not to shoot her son as he held the knife to her throat outside their apartment.

"It was over in split seconds," the mother said.

Evie Oquendo said her son was scared and did not want to die.

Police found a folding knife with a 3 1/2-inch blade near Chamberlain's body. They also found other knives scattered throughout the apartment, which had been trashed.

Officer Manuel San Martin, who arrived at the scene with Colling, activated a video camera on his Taser when he pulled out the electroshock weapon during the confrontation with Chamberlain.

The video shows a woman being pulled backward by another person amid frantic shouting. San Martin can be heard yelling, "Calm down. Calm down."

"He didn't react," the officer told jurors.

A gunshot is then heard, and the person holding the woman falls to the ground.

San Martin testified that the woman's son was using her as a shield, preventing the officer from shooting the teen with his Taser.

Colling said he drew his gun when the teen put his knife to the woman's neck. The officer said he heard the mother tell police not to shoot, but that did not change his perception of the danger she faced.

"I thought for certain that he was either going to stab her in the neck or slash her throat," Colling testified.

The officer said he took advantage of the opportunity to end the situation when the woman lost her footing and slipped down, giving him a shot at the teen's head.

"Any other shot than the shot that I took would not have stopped the threat," Colling testified.

Fuller, a 45-year-old sonographer, recalled reading a newspaper article about the shooting shortly after it happened.

"I initially thought that something else could have been done, but now, after having sat through it, I think that nothing else could have been done," the jury forewoman said.

Fuller has two sons. She also has a father and five brothers with backgrounds in law enforcement.

"It's hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes," she said.

Fuller said everyone on the jury "wished that there had been more time available to the officers to maybe come to a more peaceful ending."

The jury's five men and two women deliberated over the lunch hour before returning with their decision.

"Without the video, I don't know if we could have come to such a quick verdict," Fuller said.

Colling, who joined the Metropolitan Police Department four years ago, was involved in another fatal shooting in July 2006. He was one of five officers who fired 29 rounds at a domestic violence suspect outside a convenience store.

Police said the suspect, 43-year-old Shawn Collins, pulled a revolver from his back pocket after being confronted. A coroner's jury determined the officers' actions were justifiable.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Cop Hater wrote on November 08, 2009 10:25 PM: It was justified by this coroner's Jury but that was only the First Step in the process. In my case the first step was the Internal Affairs complaint. The Cops were exonerated by the Blue line including 23 year Metro vet Sgt. Petko, who does not know that pistols only have to be registered in certain cites in Clark County and the unincorporated Clark County.(Id such laws are constitutional and that is before the Supreme Court now I understand.) Petko has the mistaken belief that all pistols in Nevada must be registered. I have not yet met a Metro Cop that knows what the laws are concerning pistols. Officers Seed, Petko, Gillins, Ruiz, Jivapong and Pinjuv did not. That is for sure. The level of ignorance of these 6 officers was frightening. It would be like finding out your Doctor does not know where your heart is supposed to be. Frightening. Frightening for every person living in or visiting Clark County. The Coroner's jury is only one step in due process. I am in Federal Court. This is one more step in due process. It is not over till the fat lady sings. I do hope the mother sues Metro if she believes the Cops violated her son's rights. If she does not believe it then she should not sue them and she should be thankful that they saved her life, if she believes it. But only she can determine that. If the Cop did the right thing then good for him. I don't believe he did the right thing but then I was not there so I have no honest opinion but just the biased opinion of a person physically injured by ignorant Cops violating well defined laws established to protect people from Cops. In your face, Chris! wrote on November 08, 2009 08:31 PM: Justified Justified, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah. Cop Hater wrote on November 08, 2009 05:37 AM: I hate tyrants. I hate Cops that don't follow the law and in doing so threaten the lives and liberty of We the People. When a Cop does not allow for a law abiding Citizen to have a gun then he is a tyrant. I believe in due process of law. I believe that if Cops do not follow NRS 171.123 or NRS 171.1232 or NRS 202.340 or the 1st, 2nd, 4th or 14th amendments to the federal constitution then they are more dangerous than any common criminals just as Nazi SS officers were more dangerous than German common criminals. Governments are the greatest mass murderers in history. How many Citizens of Germany did Hitler murder? How many Citizens of Russia did Stalin murder? How many Citizens of Great Britain did Great Britain murder? Who do these governments use to murder its own citizens? Law enforcement officers, of course. The 2nd Amendment was not written to protect the right to hunt. It was written to follow the reasoning found in the Declaration of Independence. It was to stop tyrants with force if necessary. When Cops act like Pinjuv, Seed, Jivapong, Ruiz and Petko, and Gillins they are criminals and tyrants. When an MP shoots a man that is shooting others then they have the right to shoot him. Cops have to have a reasonable belief that a person is committing a crime or they cannot even detain that person, let alone frisk them. If they detain and frisk a person that they do not have a reasonable suspicion that that person has committed a crime then they themselves become criminals. When they violate NRS 202.340 they are criminals. When their wives give their husbands private medical information in violation of HIPAA then their wives are committing a felony. When the Cops do nothing about it they are criminals. Inappropriate Term wrote on November 08, 2009 12:37 AM: Patrick, you don't know what you are talking about. In fact you should take your computer back to the place where you purchased it. Show them your obnoxious, incoherent posts, and they'll give you your money back. Sorry you were born without a brain, but you obviously have a future in politics. T wrote on November 07, 2009 10:16 PM: Patrick, Have you ever attended an inquest? T wrote on November 07, 2009 10:07 PM: Patrick, Have you even attended an inquest? patrick wrote on November 07, 2009 08:52 PM: This officer has killed more people than murderers who are now spending life in prison; and that's just in the last 3 years! Officers who spend LIFETIMES on police forces around the country, who encounter the same or similar circumstances everyday, do not react in the irresponsible, immature fashion, that this officer has in at least two instances which have both resulted in the deaths of people. Most police officers will tell you that if they have to draw their weapons, they have all ready failed to perform their jobs; their right! The fact is that this officer MUST be placed into a position where he no longer can demonstrate his lack of proper decision making ability, UNTIL he has received enough training, and enough experience WITHOUT a weapon, to make the appropriate decisions. And that 15 year old, like all 15 year olds, WAS someones son or daughter, THEIR lives are no more or less valuable simply because they are not YOUR son or daughter, whether 15-19 year olds are the "deadliest" group in this country is irrelevant, that group is undoubtedly no more or less likely to KILL their own mothers than a stranger is, AND I am willing to bet now, without knowing for sure, that the number of women who are also mothers are MUCH more likely to be killed by strangers than they are by their sons; anyone want to wager? And the fact is, this officer either KNEW or should have known, that the individuals involved WERE mother and son, if he did not realize that this circumstance was important to any decision he would make, then either his training was inadequate, or his maturity level was insufficient to put him into this position to make life or death decisions. Take the weapon out of his hands! Prometheus wrote on November 07, 2009 08:25 PM: I think the problem is many of you compare these 15 yr olds to one of your own, ...therefore you believe the 15 yr old is not a threat and wouldnt actually do it.....right? Well who do you think commits the most murders in america...teenage boys 15-19 most deadliest group.... Such as the 18yr old that stuck a knife in his wheelchair bound moms neck a couple of days after this shooting... COP has to choose between the woman or the person withthe knife... You need to support this officer...not take cheap shots, because you can.... If my son has a knife to my wifes neck, then I exect that cop to do what he has to do.... The way I insure my son wont get shot by the police is not to rely on the COPS..BUt rather how I raise my son.... NEWSFLASH for the unaccountable... Prometheus wrote on November 07, 2009 07:43 PM: Kaffee: I want the truth! Jessep: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to! patrick wrote on November 07, 2009 07:42 PM: Never known a sheepdog with gun, but I do know a few sheep who post on here. To any of the lame losers supporting what this police officer did I ask you this question; if your child ever threatened you within earshot of a police officer (which according to the law is one of the issues to determine whether the officer could justifiably use deadly force) did you desire that the police shoot your child. Remember, this officer came upon this situation with quite literally SECONDS before he made his uninformed decision to kill this boy; imagine points in your life where a person expressed a desire to cause imminent bodily harm to you, perhaps even expressed some road rage while driving down the road (a vehicle can be considered a deadly weapon for these purposes) do you want an officer who comes upon that situation in the world to shoot to kill after making a split second decision? Again, if it was one of your children, say around the age of 15-16 when you forbade them from going out with their friends, or some other such nonsense, stated in a heated way that they hated you and were going to kill you; would you want an officer coming upon that situation to shoot to kill your child? If the answer is yes then you got some serious serious problems. Read All Comments