Austin Chief Defends Officers in Fatal Shooting

June 6, 2013
Chief Art Acevedo said officers Nathan Wagner and Jeffrey Rodriguez followed department training.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo on Wednesday told jurors that he rushed to the scene the night Byron Carter Jr. and Leyumba Webb were shot by officers in May 2011.

Based on the police investigation, the chief said officers Nathan Wagner and Jeffrey Rodriguez followed Police Department training by approaching the car the young men had been sitting in by walking up to it on the street, as opposed to the sidewalk, where their figures would have been silhouetted by the night, putting them in danger.

Acevedo said Wagner fired five shots in 1.4 seconds, which in his opinion was a controlled shooting. One of the shots went through the windshield and another four went through the right side of the driver's window, according to court testimony.

"Wagner has been painted as a rogue officer who was out of control, which is not true," Acevedo said.

In response to a line of heated questioning by attorney Adam Loewy, who is representing Carter's family, the chief said Wagner and Rodriguez did not violate Police Department pursuit policy, even after a change in July 2012 that now prohibits officers from approaching vehicles from the front.

Acevedo said he could not remember if he expressed his condolences to Carter's family through the media after the shooting. But he said that after the civil lawsuit was filed six months later, he was not allowed to speak to his relatives.

"I can tell you in front of this jury my heart goes out to that mother right there and that father," Acevedo said.

Jurors have been given a break until next week.

Copyright 2013 - Austin American-Statesman

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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