Use of Force Board rules in favor of Metro officer

Keith Paul

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

Metro Police's Use of Force Board voted Wednesday night that a detective acted within department policy when he shot a man who fired a shotgun at him last month.

The board's ruling comes a few weeks after a Clark County coroner's inquest jury voted unanimously that Detective Timothy Schoening was justified in the shooting death of 22-year-old Phillip Ramos on May 1 on Oakey Boulevard and Eucalyptus Avenue. The inquest jury's verdict cleared Schoening of any criminal wrongdoing.

The board's vote was unanimous, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Schoening fired after Ramos rose from the bed of a pickup about 9:30 p.m. May 1 and fired a shotgun blast into the roof of the detective's unmarked car. Schoening was not injured.

Schoening, a Repeat Offender Program detective, was in the area looking for another man when he saw a car driving through the neighborhood without its headlights on and heard a broadcast on his police radio that a robbery had just taken place.

Schoening testified at last month's coroner's inquest that he drove by the car to get the license plate and shined his flashlight after the car pulled into the driveway of a nearby house. A few minutes later the same car pulled up to Schoening after he has parked back on Oakey Boulevard.

The driver, later determined to be Ramos, yelled at the undercover detective and sped off.

A little while later a truck pulled up, and Ramos rose with a shotgun in his hand, Shoening testified. The officer fired one shot, dropping Ramos back into the bed of the truck, he said.

Ramos rose again and Schoening said he fired several more shots -- a total of eight -- into the side panel of the truck's bed. The driver drove off to Sunrise Hospital, where Ramos was pronounced dead.

The driver and passenger of the truck refused to testify during the May 31 coroner's inquest.

The Use of Force Board reviews officers' actions when someone is killed or seriously hurt by an officer or whenever an officer fires a gun at a person. The board, made up of four civilians and three officers, determines if the officers acted within department guidelines.