A prisoner was handcuffed when he was fatally shot during a fight with an El Paso police officer Friday night outside the Downtown jail, police officials said Monday.
Officials identified the man who was killed as Daniel Saenz, 37, of the 2000 block of Mermaid Drive.
A police spokesman had said that an officer was taking Saenz to a hospital for a medical release when Saenz allegedly began fighting with the officer outside the receiving area in the rear of the El Paso County jail.
"The preliminary investigation revealed Mr. Saenz was handcuffed while he violently fought with the officer outside of the El Paso County Detention Facility," the Police Department said in a statement.
Officials said the officer fired his handgun during the fight, wounding Saenz and stopping the assault. Saenz was given first aid and taken to a hospital, where he died.
Police did not say if Saenz's hands were cuffed in the front or behind his back. Police have also not disclosed how many times Saenz was shot.
Police had arrested Saenz on suspicion of assault on a public servant, assault with bodily injury, assault and injury to an elderly person. Saenz's family could not be reached for comment.
The
shooting is under investigation by the Police Department and the Texas Rangers.
Sgt. Chris Mears, a police spokesman, said the officer who shot Saenz is a patrol officer with the Pebble Hills Regional Command. Mears said the officer's name was not released because the case will go to a grand jury, which is standard in all police shootings.
It had been customary for the Police Department to release the names of officers involved in shootings. As recently as February 2012, officials had released the name of a police sergeant (Alonzo Torres) who shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy allegedly armed with scissors.
The last officer to be indicted in a shooting was in 2011 when Officer Jorge Gonzalez was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Gonzalez pleaded not guilty.
Gonzalez was indicted in the off-duty shooting of Andrez Cortez, who was wounded in the neck and left a quadriplegic during a confrontation after Cortez rear-ended a sport utility vehicle on Gateway West near Yarbrough Drive.
Police said Cortez was shot while trying to drive away after allegedly hitting another off-duty officer with his car after both officers got out of the SUV.
Cortez said he was only trying to move his car.
The case is still pending in 41st District Court but court records show no hearings or events scheduled since a meeting with Judge Mary Anne Bramblett on Aug. 11, 2011.
Copyright 2013 - El Paso Times, Texas
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
