Stockton Officer Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Latino Man with a Skateboard in his Hand

A Stockton police officer was justified when he shot and killed a man who threatened him with a wooden stake on the Cesar Chavez High School campus late last year, the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office said Thursday. Prosecutors found that Gustavo Peña Izaguirre's methamphetamine use - not the 26-year-old Mexican immigrant's inability to understand commands officers shouted in English - led to the shooting. "He was acting bizarre. He wasn't rational," said Deputy District Attorney Seth Hoyt, who reviewed the case. "At some point, he raises a stake and a broken skateboard and comes at the officers." Sgt. Kenneth Brown was left with no choice but to fire two rounds at Peña, Hoyt said.  An attorney for Peña's family is still considering filing a lawsuit seeking at least $25,000 for what he called Peña's "unlawful" killing. The confrontation began on the morning of Nov. 12 when a Stockton Unified School District officer found Peña on campus with a broken-down car. Officers tried to communicate with Peña through the afternoon, urging him to leave campus. Those officers who didn'tspeak Spanish used hand signals with Peña. At one point, an officer put Peña on the phone with a Spanish-speaking officer. Peña continued to resist officers and grew combative, the report said. A school police officer then sprayed Peña with a chemical agent when he wielded a broken skateboard and the stake at officers. Brown arrived and tried to stop Peña with a stun gun. That too didn't deter Peña, who threatened Brown with the stake. From a distance of about 12 feet, Brown fired at Peña, the report said. At 7:25 p.m., doctors pronounced him dead. Gessell said witnesses told him a different version of the shooting.[more]