San Diego Police Officer Richard Butera was back in the news Monday after fatally shooting a knife-wielding man, 30-year-old Joshua Adam Sisson, following a domestic dispute between Sisson and his boyfriend. According to NBC San Diego:
SDPD officers were called to the 500 block of Lewis Street about five minutes before the shooting to investigate a domestic violence incident involving a man who had allegedly held a knife to his boyfriend’s neck. By the time officers arrived at the scene, the suspect had fled.
Minutes later, a crew aboard the SDPD’s helicopter unit told officers on the ground they could see the possible domestic violence suspect making his way up a hill on 6th Avenue. A police officer arrived in the area and spotted the man on the hill.
The SDPD said the officer ordered the man to stop. The suspect then allegedly turned toward the officer and pointed a large kitchen knife at the officer, “in an aggressive stance,” the police department said.
The officer told the suspect to stop and drop the knife, but he refused to comply. The suspect then advanced towards the officer, knife in hand.
Fearing for his safety, the officer fired his service gun at the suspect, the round striking him once in the chest.
More reporting from Towleroad and NBC San Diego reveal that this is Butera’s third time being involved in a fatal shooting. In 2013, Butera shot and killed Giacomo James Cargnoni, who was reported to have held a gun to another person’s head. Police reported that they believed Cargnoni was carrying a gun and made aggressive moves when Butera shot him twice with a shotgun. Video from the scene was confiscated by police and Butera was ruled to be justified in his use of force.
Just a year later, Aaron Devenere was killed by Butera after a 45-minute high-speed chase. Dispatchers report that Devenere claimed to have a gun and be strapped with a bomb before the chase and officers said that they believed Devenere to be holding a victim at gunpoint when Butera shot him. It was later discovered that Devenere was unarmed. An internal investigation again ruled that Butera was justified in his use of force.
That’s three people killed in a three-year span who were armed with knives at the most. And Butera is just one officer in a San Diego police force that has been exceptionally violent over the past three years. A rundown of reckless shootings and killings by police in San Diego and surrounding areas includes the killing of a homeless man armed with scissors, the ambush and killing of an unarmed man in his own garage while serving a warrant, the shooting of two unarmed men in a house while serving a warrant, and the killing of another homeless man armed with only knives. In each case, officers reported that they saw the suspect reaching for a (nonexistent) gun or believed the suspect to have one, and in several cases camera footage was confiscated or body cameras not turned on.
Today, protesters in San Diego are asking the same question. What is happening in San Diego and why do cops like Butera keep killing suspects who are unarmed or only armed with knives?