Man, 24, was shot by officers after allegedly pulling a gun during arrest in Palm Springs.

By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 17, 2008

Authorities on Wednesday identified the 24-year-old fugitive who was shot and killed outside a downtown Palm Springs casino after he allegedly pulled a weapon on law enforcement officers.

The Riverside County coroner’s office identified the man as Nino Joseph Garcia Jr. of Banning.

The gunfire erupted shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday and forced patrons and employees of the Spa Resort and Casino to duck for cover. A casino slot machine technician was hit in the leg by a stray bullet that shattered a glass door in a lounge area, officials said.

The incident began when Garcia left the building with a female companion and authorities tried to take him into custody.

State and local law enforcement officers had been waiting outside to apprehend him, said Palm Springs Police Sgt. Mitch Spike.

He said the pair ran, trying first to dart into a waiting taxicab. Garcia then struggled with a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy and dove into a nearby row of decorative hedges, Spike said.

With officers in pursuit, Garcia ran from the bushes and splashed through a fountain area. At that point, he allegedly turned on officers with a handgun, Spike said.

Five officers fired their weapons at Garcia, Spike said.

Authorities are still investigating whether Garcia also shot at officers, which officers’ gunfire struck him and where or how many times he was hit, Spike said. Garcia died at the scene. “The officers did what they had to do,” he said.

The woman with Garcia ran across the street but was quickly taken into custody without resisting, officials said. Spike said a Palm Springs police officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a department investigation into the officer- involved shooting.

Two deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s fugitive warrant team were involved in the shooting and placed on administrative leave, said Jerry Franchville, an investigator with the department.

The other two officials involved in the shooting were agents with the state Department of Justice, said spokesman Gareth Lacy. They have not been placed on leave, Lacy said.

Nancy Conrad, a spokeswoman for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which owns the casino, said the wounded employee was recovering and had asked to return to work today.

“It certainly was kind of a freak accident that this occurred,” Conrad said, describing how security guards pulled casino patrons to the floor and ordered everyone to duck for cover as the shots were fired.

The shooting occurred next to a lounge area where a band had just begun to play, Conrad said.

Officials from a Sheriff’s Department task force and the state Department of Justice alerted Palm Springs police about 4 p.m. that Garcia was at the casino, Spike said.

The area where the incident took place is an ornamental outdoor spot where people do not congregate. “Not a whole lot of people really saw what happened,” Spike said. “This kind of stuff can happen anywhere.”

He refused to say on what felony charges Garcia was wanted. But Lacy, the state Justice Department spokesman, said Garcia was known to have had previous weapons-related altercations with law enforcement officers.

susannah.rosenblatt @latimes.com
Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times

Posted on January 17th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: News