OAKLAND, Calif. -- More than three dozen people marched on Oakland City Hall Monday calling for the prosecution of a police officer who killed a man he was questioning as a murder suspect. The parents of 20-year-old Gary King Junior were among protesters claiming that Oakland police Sergeant Pat Gonzales used excessive force when he gunned down their son last week. But top police officials defended the actions of Gonzalez when he attempted to stop Gary King Jr. near 54th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way about 4:45 p.m. Thursday because King fit the description of a suspect in the shooting death of another man in the same area four weeks earlier.
Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker said he and other officials held a news conference to talk about the incident because "we're answerable to the public's concerns. Tucker said "there are a number of different explanations" about the incident and admitted the public's "confidence and trust in us have been impacted by this." King's mother, 50-year-old Catherine King, said in a phone interview that King was shot in the back twice and witnesses told her that Gonzalez fired at him even though he was running away. King said she and other family members, who held a news conference at Oakland City Hall Monday, plan to file a lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department and may even pursue murder charges against Gonzalez. "My son was murdered in cold blood without a reason," King said.
But Assistant Police Chief Howard Jordan said a preliminary investigation into the incident indicates that Gonzalez didn't engage in any misconduct and in fact acted "in defense of his life" in shooting at Gary King, whom he said was armed with a handgun. However, the incident is still being investigated by the homicide section, the internal affairs division and the Alameda County District Attorney's office. Lt. Ersie Joyner, who heads the homicide division, admitted that Gonzalez shot King in the back, but he said Gonzales told investigators that he fired because King still had his hand in the area of his waistband, where Gonzalez said he had felt a gun while he struggled with King. King "was still attempting to pull his firearm out," Joyner said. Joyner said Gonzalez, who's a supervisor of a crime reduction unit and was patrolling an area of Martin Luther King Jr. Way near Children's Hospital Oakland, stopped King because he fit the description of the suspect in the death of Ronald Jimmey Spears about 1 a.m. Aug. 21 in that same area.
Spears, who had been celebrating his 29th birthday with two women friends, was shot and killed near 55th Street and Martin Luther King by a gunman who asked him for a ride. Catherine King said "my son probably was rather indignant after he was stopped" because he often was stopped by police officers who are looking for young black suspects. King said the descriptions of young black suspects are so vague that they leave the door open for police to stop many young black men. But Joyner said the description of the suspect in the death of Spears was "distinctive" and when Gonzalez saw six young black males near 54th Street and Martin Luther King he only wanted to question King because he was the only youth who fit the description.
Tucker said "time, place and circumstance" all factored into Gonzalez' decision to stop King. Joyner said King's hairstyle and complexion were similar to those mentioned in the description of the suspect in the death of Spears, but he didn't want to go into more detail. Jordan said Thursday's incident was the third time Gonzales, a 10-year veteran in the department, has shot a suspect and the second time he has killed a suspect. But he said the suspects in the prior incidents also were "armed and prepared for violent encounters" and investigations cleared Gonzalez in both prior incidents.
Tucker said "it's not the normal set of circumstances for an officer" to shoot suspects three times in five years and admitted "that's more than most." But Tucker said people should look at Gonzalez' assignment, which is supervising a crime reduction team, and said it "puts him in harm's way on a continuing and constant basis." Joyner said Gonzalez was put on paid administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard department policy, but he said Gonzalez will return to work on Wednesday pending the completion of the three ongoing investigations, which are expected to take about two months.