Body-worn camera video released by San Diego police Tuesday shows officers shoot an armed man last week after he had reportedly shot his ex-girlfriend in the forehead at a home in City Heights.
The woman survived her injuries, but her ex-boyfriend, identified as Imanol Aparicio, 22, died.
Sgt. Matthew Ruggiero, Officer Jeremy Avalos and Officer Jonah Tafoya all fired their weapons in the encounter with Aparaicio. The Mid-City Division officers have been with the department since 2005, 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Investigators said the shooting occurred after the three officers saw the man reaching for a gun in his waistband in front of them, sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Jarjura said. The officers opened fire a second time after the man pointed the gun at them while wounded on the ground, he said.
The county Sheriff’s Department is handling the investigation under a reciprocal agreement with San Diego police, so neither department investigates its own officers or deputies when they shoot someone.
The edited video contains text from the Police Department that describes the incident from the officers’ point of view, images from crime scene photographers and footage from a camera worn by one of the officers.
Image from body-worn camera footage depicts the moment San Diego police first confronted Imanol Aparicio on Wightman Street.
(San Diego Police Department. )
All three officers had their cameras recording at the time of the incident and show similar angles of the shooting, according to police Lt. Adam Sharki. Only one of the videos was included in the Police Department’s edited video in accordance with California law and out of respect for Aparicio’s family, Sharki said. All three videos will be made available to the public when the investigations are complete.
The video begins with an audio recording of a call to 911 dispatchers by the victim’s sister around 11 p.m. on Nov. 13. The caller tells the dispatcher that her sister had been shot in the head at a home on Polk Avenue near 45th Street and that the gunman was nearby.
Officers arrived and found the victim with a “grazing” gunshot wound that was not life-threatening.
The video says that within 30 minutes of the shooting, officers located Aparicio on Wightman Street near 40th Street, less than a mile away from the crime scene.
The edited video then jumps to the body-worn camera footage of one of the officers involved in the shooting, listed in the video as “Officer No. 1.”
At least two officers are shown in the video running down a sidewalk lined with cars and lit by streetlights. They turn a corner and Aparaicio is in view, separated from the officers by a handful of car lengths.
When asked by an officer to come toward them, the man turns around and raises his empty hands in the air. The officers move up to within a few feet of Aparicio with their weapons raised and flashlights trained on the man.
“Get your hands out of your pockets. Turn around,” an officer says.
“Go for it dude,” Aparicio is heard telling the officers while facing them at close range. He begins backing away from the officers.
“Don’t do it,” one of the officers says. The man ignores one more command from the officers, turns and runs away.
The officers chase Aparicio into an alleyway across the street. As they come within a short distance of Aparicio, one of the officers warns him, “I’m going to shoot you.”
Image from body-worn camera footage depicts San Diego police chasing Imanol Aparicio.
(San Diego Police Department)
Aparicio appears to turn toward the officers in the video. According to investigators, he reaches for his waistband, where officers see a firearm.
The three officers then open fire on the man, shooting multiple rounds, the video shows. Aparicio falls to the ground.
Text in the video says that while on the ground, the suspect still had the loaded firearm in his hand and pointed it in the direction of officers.
The officers then open fire again.
A handgun — later identified as a loaded unregistered “ghost gun” made from a parts kit — is seen near his left hand in footage recorded by a police helicopter overhead.
The officers sent in a police dog to pull the man away from the gun, Jajura said in a news release that was also released Tuesday.
Aparicio was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The edited police video ends with a photo of the handgun found at the scene of where Aparicio was shot. Investigators said the loaded handgun’s trigger had been pulled, but the action jammed. The man also had a backpack containing a 30-round magazine that was loaded with 13 bullets, Jarjura said.
After the Sheriff’s Department completes its investigation, the District Attorney’s Office will review it — as it does all shootings involving law enforcement — to determine whether the deputies bear any criminal liability.
The Police Department will investigate the shooting on Polk Avenue and conduct an internal administrative investigation, officials said. The Commission on Police Practices is expected to review the incident, as well.
