{"id":147980,"date":"2026-01-24T16:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/147980\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T16:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:39:11","slug":"dist-atty-clears-officers-in-5-fatal-shootings-and-3-in-custody-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/147980\/","title":{"rendered":"Dist. Atty. clears officers in 5 fatal shootings and 3 in-custody deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Taser<\/a>Officers attempt to stop Nicholas Trammell with a non-lethal Taser on May 20, 2024. (Image from San Diego Police video\/click for full video)<\/p>\n

Seventeen local law enforcement officers have been cleared of criminal liability in five fatal police shootings and three in- custody deaths, according to reviews released Friday by the San Diego County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The incidents date from May 2024 through January 2025 and occurred in San Diego, El Cajon, National City, Lakeside and Oceanside.<\/p>\n

The incidents involved San Diego County sheriff\u2019s deputies, as well as police officers from San Diego, El Cajon and Oceanside.<\/p>\n

The deaths reviewed by prosecutors include:<\/p>\n

Jan. 13, 2025, shooting of Andrew Engel, 26, in East Village<\/p>\n

Police responded after Engel\u2019s roommate and friends found him in a bathtub at his apartment with his wrists slit.<\/p>\n

When San Diego Police Officers Gavin Isa and Eric Moreno entered the apartment, Engel approached Moreno while holding a knife, the District Attorney\u2019s Office\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

Citing body-worn camera footage, the D.A.\u2019s review states Moreno tells Engel, \u201cAndrew! Hey, hey, hey! San Diego Police! Stop!\u201d but Engel \u201ccontinues to charge at Moreno while holding the knife raised above his head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno fired two shots, striking Engel, who momentarily stopped, then continued advancing with the knife raised, prompting Moreno to fire four more shots, the D.A.\u2019s review said.<\/p>\n

After hearing the initial shots, Isa entered the room and also opened fire. Engel later died at a hospital.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review states \u201cEngel\u2019s rapid actions posed an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to Moreno, and when Moreno and Isa used deadly force on Engel, they did so to instantly confront and address that imminent threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last summer, Engel\u2019s family filed a claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, which alleged the officers used unreasonable force on an injured man who was in the throes of a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n

Oct. 2, 2024, shooting of Brian Maloney, 41, on Fiesta Island<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s Office said off-duty San Diego Community College District Police Officer Victor Bocaya had taken his dogs for a walk, but while removing his pets from his vehicle, Maloney began angrily shouting at him.<\/p>\n

Bocaya pulled out his badge and identified himself as an officer, to which Maloney said he\u2019d been harassed by police before.<\/p>\n

Bocaya said he was going to call the police, after which Maloney lunged at Bocaya and \u201crepeatedly stabbed him in the neck and upper torso,\u201d the D.A.\u2019s review said.<\/p>\n

Bocaya then produced a handgun and shot Maloney once, causing a mortal wound that led to Maloney\u2019s death later at a hospital.<\/p>\n

Bocaya sustained four stab wounds to his neck, one to his chest and one to his back, which left him with a punctured lung and fractured ribs, according to the D.A.\u2019s review, which states Bocaya \u201cwas faced with the imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death and reasonably feared for his life\u201d when he opened fire.<\/p>\n

Dec. 11, 2024, shooting of Andrea Grube, 24, in El Cajon<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s Office says Grube drove a pickup truck into the El Cajon Police Department\u2019s parking lot and accelerated toward a group of officers just before 12:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sgt. Kevin Maxwell was struck by the truck and sent to the ground, the D.A.\u2019s review said.<\/p>\n

El Cajon Police Officer Evan Drescher then exiting the police department and both he and Maxwell ordered Grube to stop and get out of the truck.<\/p>\n

Grube accelerated again towards Maxwell, prompting him to fire into the truck\u2019s windshield, and Drescher to also open fire on the truck. The truck then crashed into a tree, and Drescher opened fire again upon seeing Grube \u201cmove around and manipulate items\u201d inside the truck, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

Grube, who had been shot multiple times, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review states, \u201cGrube\u2019s rapid and unpredictable use of the truck as a lethal instrument did not allow the officers sufficient time or distance to utilize less-than-lethal options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sept. 27, 2024, shooting of Gene Stewart, 46, in National City<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s Office said that during an undercover police investigation into drug trafficking, sheriff\u2019s deputy Doug Akers spotted a vehicle that was driving slowly through a shopping center parking lot in a manner that led him to believe the three people inside the car were potentially involved in criminal activity.<\/p>\n

When another deputy tried to conduct a traffic stop, Stewart got out of the vehicle and ran.<\/p>\n

Akers and other deputies gave chase and a passerby pointed out that Stewart was hiding in the cab of a parked tow truck in the parking lot of a car dealership.<\/p>\n

When Akers ordered Stewart out of the truck, Stewart pulled out a handgun and fire one round through a window at Akers, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

Akers then returned fire, after which Stewart \u201cquickly opened the door and got out of the truck to face Akers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Believing Akers was going to shoot again, Akers opened fire, striking Stewart, who died at the scene, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s Office said Akers fired first in response to Stewart\u2019s initial gunfire, then fired again while in fear of being shot after Stewart burst from the truck.<\/p>\n

May 20, 2024, shooting of Nicholas Trammell, 33, in Morena<\/p>\n

Officers responded to a 911 call from the owner of the Morena Market, who said Trammell had stolen items and brandished a knife.<\/p>\n

Responding officers found Trammell less than a quarter-mile away in an apartment complex parking lot and tried to detain him.<\/p>\n

Trammell then pulled out a knife and a pair of scissors, prompting officers to deploy their tasers, but they missed him, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

Trammell then fled the scene, grabbed a bystander and put a knife to the man\u2019s neck, the D.A.\u2019s Office states.<\/p>\n

San Diego police officers Matthew Steinbach, Michael Howells and Justin Tellam opened fire, killing Trammell.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review states the officers \u201cdischarged their handguns under the reasonable belief that the use of deadly force was necessary to defend against that imminent threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aug. 14, 2024 in-custody death of Angela Camacho, 51<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s deputies responded just before 2 a.m. for an altercation at a shopping center, in which a 911 caller described a woman pepper spraying another woman.<\/p>\n

Responding deputies encountered Camacho who \u201cwas yelling and wailing,\u201d then ran from the deputies, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

She ran towards a 7-Eleven within the shopping center, though deputies ordered her to stop.<\/p>\n

Camacho was pulled into a seated position and handcuffed but \u201ccontinued to physically struggle,\u201d the D.A.\u2019s Office said. A WRAP restraint device was then placed on her.<\/p>\n

When deputies moved her back into a seated position, they \u201cnoticed she had become quiet\u201d and were unable to find a pulse.<\/p>\n

CPR was administered and Camacho regained a pulse and was hospitalized, but at the hospital, she went into cardiac arrest and suffered a severe anoxic brain injury, according to the D.A.\u2019s review.<\/p>\n

She was ultimately placed on a ventilator, but never regained consciousness and died just over a month later.<\/p>\n

A deputy medical examiner determined her cause of death to be \u201canoxic- ischemic encephalopathy due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest during law enforcement restraint and methamphetamine intoxication,\u201d according to the D.A.\u2019s review, which said cardiovascular disease and obesity were also contributing factors.<\/p>\n

Five deputies were involved in the incident.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s Office concluded that \u201cdue to the degree of physical resistance Camacho was exhibiting,\u201d the methods employed by the deputies \u201cwere reasonable under these circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oct. 8, 2024, death of Emmanuel Avilez-Acosta, 26<\/p>\n

Avilez-Acosta\u2019s aunt called 911 and reported her nephew had cut himself and was bleeding inside a bathroom at her home.<\/p>\n

Oceanside Police Officer Israel Doroteo responded and found Avilez- Acosta in the bathroom with a large kitchen knife.<\/p>\n

Avilez-Acosta was placed in an ambulance for transport to a hospital and during the transport, Doroteo followed the ambulance in his patrol car.<\/p>\n

While in the ambulance, Avilez-Acosta \u201cbecame combative with the medics and he attempted further self-harm by grabbing at his own injuries,\u201d causing the ambulance and Doroteo to pull over, the D.A.\u2019s review states.<\/p>\n

Avilez-Acosta was hanging off the gurney, so Doroteo guided his raised legs onto the gurney \u201cwith minimal pressure,\u201d while medics \u201capplied soft restraints to safely secure him to the gurney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avilez-Acosta later died at a hospital, and a deputy medical examiner ruled his death was a suicide from multiple sharp force injuries.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review cites the medical examiner\u2019s findings that Doroteo\u2019s actions were not referenced as a contributed factor in the death.<\/p>\n

Jan. 25, 2025, death of Gabriel Garza, 40, in downtown San Diego<\/p>\n

Garza was removed by bar security from Star Bar for what sheriff\u2019s officials described as a \u201cdisturbance\u201d in which Garza allegedly bit a security guard. He was restrained by the guard, as well as two others until police arrived.<\/p>\n

San Diego Police Officer Jacob Phipps arrived on scene first and handcuffed Garza, the D.A.\u2019s review states. Officer Noah McLemore then arrived and held Garza\u2019s legs down because they were \u201cactively moving about.\u201d He was then taken to a hospital, where he went into cardiac arrest, had no pulse, and later died.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review states an autopsy found his death was \u201ccardiopulmonary arrest due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease with ethanol and cocaine intoxication during physical restraint.\u201d The manner of death was determined to be homicide.<\/p>\n

Garza\u2019s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year that alleged Phipps held Garza down on his stomach, while both officers were faulted for allegedly failing to check if he was able to breathe properly or take his pulse.<\/p>\n

The D.A.\u2019s review states the officers \u201chad an obligation to detain Garza\u201d because he\u2019d bitten someone and had been fighting with security. The review states that after he \u201ccontinued to roll around and kick, officers were within their right to use reasonable force to restrain him\u201d in order to prevent him from injuring himself, bystanders or the officers.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officers attempt to stop Nicholas Trammell with a non-lethal Taser on May 20, 2024. (Image from San Diego…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7359,35422,36082,73519,74,76,75,985,12129],"class_list":["post-147980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-district-attorney","tag-fatalities","tag-in-custody-deaths","tag-officer-involved-shootings","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-police","tag-san-diego-sheriff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}