Man shot to death in confrontation with Metro Police

Keith Paul

Monday, June 24, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

A Metro Police officer shot and killed a man early this morning after the man confronted officers with what appeared to be a gun as the officers were taking a toddler into protective custody.

Several officers were in the area of Sierra Vista Drive and Cambridge Street about 11 p.m. Sunday and encountered a 2 1/2-year-old boy wandering around in an alley without supervision and suffering from apparent neglect, Capt. Dennis Cobb said.

Police said when they later interviewed a 40-year-old man identified as the child's father, he became hostile.

The officers decided to take the child into protective custody. An officer put the child in the back seat of a police car as another officer went to the substation to get a child safety seat, Cobb said.

The man left the officers and apparently went back to his apartment. He is accused of returning a few minutes later holding what appeared to be a handgun about 12:05 a.m. today, police said.

"The officers ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, and when he raised the gun at the officers, one officer fired one shot, striking the suspect," Cobb said in a release.

The gun was later determined to be a BB gun made to look like a real gun, police said.

The man was taken to University Medical Center, where he died at 4:15 a.m., a hospital spokesman said.

The toddler was taken into protective custody at Child Haven after being examined at Sunrise Hospital, police said.

The name of the slain man was not released this morning pending notification of his family.

The name of the officer who fired the shot will not be released for 48 hours per department policy. The officer was put on paid administrative leave, which is routine in officer-involved shootings.