Desertdog
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Officer shoots, kills suspect first night on duty
July 14, 2005, 07:50 AM Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version
Officer shoots, kills suspect first night on duty
Walking just a few blocks from where his brother Matthew was killed the night before, Paul Albrecht says the whole thing was a blur.
"When they told him to step out of the vehicle, the other officer gave me my information. I didn't even get a chance to grab it and I heard the gunshot," Paul says.
Two more gunshots followed, then Paul saw what had happened.
"After I heard the last two gunshots, the cop picked me up and I was walking over to the squad car and I looked over and I saw him there motionless, and I tried to tell him I loved him before... but he was already... it was too late," he added.
Matthew's family says he was wanted on grand theft auto charges.
Officer Eric Coutts, a five year veteran, asked Matthew to get out of the car.
"In the same movement as he was getting out of the vehicle, he pointed a handgun at officer Coutts' head," says Sgt. Kerry Fuller of the Tucson Police Department.
Paul says he never saw his brother draw a weapon, but TPD says Coutts' partner that night, officer Eric Morales, did, and that's why he shot Albrecht.
Both Coutts and Morales fired one more shot each because, they say, Albrecht wouldn't drop his gun.
Officer Morales had just started his training.
"That was his first night. It was quite a night," Fuller says.
Matthew's mother, Pamela Seaton, heard about the incident the next morning. She believes TPD used excessive force.
"He could have accidentally just rolled around from the pain that he was suffering from the one shot and went near the gun with no intentions of going near the gun," Seaton says.
In the car, investigators later found a backpack containing ammunition, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and scales, police said.
The Tucson Police Department is investigating the shooting to determine if it was justified.
Albrecht's family says they want to hold Matthew's funeral as soon as possible.
July 14, 2005, 07:50 AM Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version
Officer shoots, kills suspect first night on duty
Walking just a few blocks from where his brother Matthew was killed the night before, Paul Albrecht says the whole thing was a blur.
"When they told him to step out of the vehicle, the other officer gave me my information. I didn't even get a chance to grab it and I heard the gunshot," Paul says.
Two more gunshots followed, then Paul saw what had happened.
"After I heard the last two gunshots, the cop picked me up and I was walking over to the squad car and I looked over and I saw him there motionless, and I tried to tell him I loved him before... but he was already... it was too late," he added.
Matthew's family says he was wanted on grand theft auto charges.
Officer Eric Coutts, a five year veteran, asked Matthew to get out of the car.
"In the same movement as he was getting out of the vehicle, he pointed a handgun at officer Coutts' head," says Sgt. Kerry Fuller of the Tucson Police Department.
Paul says he never saw his brother draw a weapon, but TPD says Coutts' partner that night, officer Eric Morales, did, and that's why he shot Albrecht.
Both Coutts and Morales fired one more shot each because, they say, Albrecht wouldn't drop his gun.
Officer Morales had just started his training.
"That was his first night. It was quite a night," Fuller says.
Matthew's mother, Pamela Seaton, heard about the incident the next morning. She believes TPD used excessive force.
"He could have accidentally just rolled around from the pain that he was suffering from the one shot and went near the gun with no intentions of going near the gun," Seaton says.
In the car, investigators later found a backpack containing ammunition, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and scales, police said.
The Tucson Police Department is investigating the shooting to determine if it was justified.
Albrecht's family says they want to hold Matthew's funeral as soon as possible.
That makes no sense whatsoever. Good job by the rookie.
