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twitterMetro officer’s fatal shooting of teen ruled justified
Coroner’s jury rules in death of Tanner Chamberlain; officer says ‘I did what had to be done’
Justin M. Bowen
Video of the incident involving Tanner Chamberlain and his mother is shown Friday in front of a Clark County coroner’s jury. Chamberlain was shot by a Metro Police officer on Sept. 29.
Published Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 10 a.m.
Updated Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 4:04 p.m.
A collage of family photos was on display at Tanner Chamberlain's funeral on Oct. 9. Chamberlain, a junior at Chaparral High School, was killed by police during a dispute at his home near Vegas Valley Drive and Nellis Boulevard.
Sun Archives
A Clark County coroner's jury ruled this afternoon that a Metro Police officer was justified in the fatal September shooting of a 15-year-old Chaparral High School student.
Tanner Chamberlain was shot in the head shortly after 5 p.m. on Sept. 29 at an apartment complex at 4855 East Vegas Valley Drive, near Nellis Boulevard. Police said they responded to a report of a possibly mentally ill person with a knife. When they arrived, police said, they found Tanner holding a knife to the neck of his mother, Evie Oquendo.
Officer Derek Colling shot Tanner in the head after officers weren't able to get a clear shot with a Taser.
One of the officers who responded had a Taser in his hand. That Taser had a video camera attached to it, and video of what it recorded was played for the jury.
In it, the black-and-white footage shows a woman being dragged by a man who had an arm around her. She stumbles. As she loses her footing, a shot is heard.
Colling, who pulled the trigger, testified about the events leading up to the shooting and said he had no other choice but to shoot Tanner in the head.
“She said, ‘don’t shoot him, don’t shoot him,’ but he had a knife to her neck and I truthfully believed he was going to kill her,” he said.
Tanner was ducking behind his mother, using her as a shield and moving her around in front of him, at all times keeping her between himself and the officers. As he was dragging her and she lost her footing, he saw his opportunity to “end this situation and save her life,” he said. “I fired one shot.”
He said several times throughout his testimony that he was certain that Tanner was going to kill his mother with the knife.
“The whole time, he had this look on his face like he was going to kill her,” he said.
Officer Derek Colling testified Friday in front of a Clark County coroner's jury in the case involving the death of Tanner Chamberlain. Colling shot Chamberlain while he held a knife to his mother's throat.
When asked why he didn’t aim for his arm or leg, Colling said that wasn’t an option.
“Any other shot wouldn’t have stopped the threat. The only shot I had was to shoot him in the head,” he said.
A wound elsewhere on his body could still have left him able to stab her in the neck or slit her throat, he said.
“I did what had to be done,” he said.
In a taped statement given to police after the incident, Oquendo told police her son was mentally ill and wasn’t being medicated.
That statement was played for the jury today. In it, a distraught Oquendo says Tanner is bipolar and manic-depressive, and that he had been having an episode. He hadn’t gone to school that day, she said.
A doctor had prescribed medication for Tanner but he refused to take it, she told the officer. He hadn’t had an episode since May and had never been violent with her.
“He lost it today and now his little life is over,” she says in the audiotape, crying. “He’s sick. He just went nuts. And now he’s gone.”
She told the officer that Tanner had been destructive in their home, where they had lived for about a week. She called her sister, a police officer who lives out-of-state, for advice on how to handle him. Her sister told her that police would know how to handle people who were mentally ill and that she should call them for help. Oquendo said her sister then called police for her.
Oquendo wasn’t in the courtroom today but Tanner’s aunt and uncle were present, said Chris Owens, a deputy district attorney who questioned some of the witnesses.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Telgenhoff testifies Friday about the death of Tanner Chamberlain, who was shot by a Metro Police officer on Sept. 29.
Dr. Gary Telgenhoff, a forensic pathologist in the coroner’s office who conducted Tanner’s autopsy, testified that he had a slight level of an anti-anxiety drug in his system when he died. His mother said in her statement that he had taken 10 pills prescribed to her in an effort to “spite her.”
Telgenhoff said Tanner died from a single gunshot wound to the right of the head and that the death was ruled a homicide.
It was up to the jury to decide if the homicide was justifiable, excusable or if it was a homicide by criminal means. Eight jurors heard testimony and one alternate was excused from deliberations.
Oquendo has been critical of how police handled the situation, saying her life never was in danger.
A folding knife with a 3-½ inch blade was recovered after Tanner was shot.
Detective Joel Kisner shows evidence as he testifies Friday at the coroner's inquest into the death of Tanner Chamberlain, 15.
Detective Joel Kisner testified that during his investigation, several knives were found in the home. Items throughout the home had been damaged or destroyed: A television was smashed in, glass figurines in the living room were shattered and the glass on some of the paintings hanging on the walls had been broken.
Kisner said there was damage in the common areas of the apartment as well as in Oquendo’s room, but that Tanner’s room remained orderly.
“The focus of his attack, of his anger, appeared to be his mother,” Kisner said.
Officer Manuel San Martin testifies Friday in front of a coroner's jury. His partner, Derek Colling, fatally shot Tanner Chamberlain, 15, on Sept. 29.
Colling’s partner, Manuel San Martin, is the officer who had a Taser.
“I told him many times, ‘drop the knife, calm down,’” San Martin testified. “He didn’t respond to my commands.”
He said he heard a shot, the boy fell and he took the mother away from the scene.
“My primary concern was for the safety of the victim,” he said.
He said he was unable to use the Taser on Tanner because of how the boy had been holding his mother. Not only could San Martin not get a clear shot, but Tanner kept guiding his mother toward a wall and San Martin couldn't get behind the boy, he said.
Sgt. Stephen Mauri testifies Friday at the inquest into the death of Tanner Chamberlain.
Sgt. Stephen Mauri’s testimony backed that up: “It was more likely that a Taser would have hit the mother than the suspect,” he said.
Additionally, there was a danger that the boy’s muscles could have tensed and, with the knife at her throat, that could have caused her serious injury, he said.
When asked if a Taser would have been the appropriate weapon in that situation, Mauri replied, “Absolutely not.”
Discussion: 57 comments so far…
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The jusry should be able to decide this in less than 30 minutes.
it was a guy who died,w'rite.
The call is for help, not murder.
The phoney jury always backs metro's kill-crazy sprees
Anyone want to guess how this sham proceeding will turn out?
Metro did exactly what needed to be done. If they had not taken him out and he ended up killing her, can you imagine the outcry from the community. Metro has a duty to protect the public and thats what happened.
I am always one of the first to question authority, if not outright defy it, but in this case I agree with the finding. The fact that a video was made is convincing.
Yes, the mother called looking for help, but I believe the officer acted in good faith that he was protecting her life at the cost of her son's.
File this under "defecation occurs".
Lesson here is do not call Metro. Doing so escalates situations and brings deadly force into the equation. Metro is not equipped, beyond killing people, to deal with these situations.
Apparently her sister in another State is not aware of the out of control condition of our Police here.
No kidding stephen. These guys must not understand a thing about 'cooling' a situation. I know bar bouncers that have more skill handling dangerous situations than what I am reading about here.
A rookie in a uniform with a gun and no real world experience. Thinks he is Jack Bauer and everyone else is a terrorist. Shows up and escalates the situation to a point requiring lethal force and then says "I did what I had to do". More like you did what you caused yourself to have to do.
jury made the right decision.
Good to see the regular idiots here posting as usual to criticise what they don't understand.
Good job Officer Colling.
BTW the sister is a police officer.
Have they ever ruled against the police?
I suspect that all of the no-it-alls have never tried to "negotiate" with a psychotic individual. It was up to his family to keep him on his meds or see to it that he was locked up. If there is someone to blame it is not the police officer who was only trying to save a life.
told you so...the cop set free
It's a bad day when even white people can't trust the police.
they did us a favor.
The police get called to a residence with very limited details. They do not know the mother or son personally. The son is psycho and holds a knife to his mother's throat. Who does that? I'll tell you....a psycho. Honestly ask yourselves what kind of a person would want to kill a child in front of his own mother. It's pretty obvious that the police did what they had to do. Otherwise we would be listening to the same naysayers talking about how metro didn't do their job because they let a psycho kill his own innocent mother who was trying to help her 'sick' son. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. The naysayers do nothing and run their mouths no matter what the circumstances. They have a mental disease. A disease that allows them to believe that they could have talked the crazy teen out of killing his mom. And why aren't they police? Because they are too crazy. Horrible circumstances and I feel terrible for the officer, but I support our police on this one.
the armchair quarterbacks are out in droves today. if that was your mother or sister being accosted youd be kissing the cops feet right now.
Unfortunate that the guy was killed but if one of mine ever flip out call the cops for me. Any one of you ever meet a Cop? talked to a Cop? gotten to know a Cop? There are very few poeple who will step up and embrace the challenge of being a Police Officer and none of those that do can walk on water but they're the only thing between us and the sh-- bags that prey on society God bless and keep them safe.
One of these days they are going to kill one too many, a stray bullet in a baby's crib, the son or daughter of one of their own, etc. Or a bullet hitting another metro.
I'm sure mom thanks metro every day for blowing her son's brains out before her very eyes to "save her life."
do you want YOUR tax money out of your smaller and smaller paychecks to feed, house, and medicate people like this?
no, me neither.
they did us a favor.
How does these 2 mass murdering bastards in ATL and TEX get to live but the cops here is Vegas KILL young kids and old women over KNIFE's.
OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING IS WRONG and the COPS BEHAVIOUR WILL KEEP ON BEING TRIGGER HAPPY.
I love Vegas and the Cops do a great job but this goes over the line from protecting and serving to unjustified killing. Who are these secret panel members, most likely retired police and legal system retiress.
I'm all over Metro for the two slayings that happened just in the past week. But I defended the actions of Officer Colling before, and I do so again. I have to say that I still believe I would have done no different if I were in his shoes. This was a hell of position to be put in, and I too, believe he acted in good faith.
The comments on the young man killed that were posted on these threads at the time, were truly heart-wrending. Las Vegas buried one of its young, and we all died a little. So what can we do? Does Metro have some serious soul-searching to do about learning how to diffuse a tense situation? Absolutely!! But again, going back to this fateful scene, I believe I too would have feared that at any instant the mother might have had her throat slashed. Tragically, I must say I would have done the same as Officer Colling.
The fact is that this crazed kid did not have to be shot point blank in the head after 7 seconds of negotiations from police. EVER HEARD OF NON LETHAL FORCE ? ? ie, not the taser retard, shoot the suspect in shoulder or leg. maybe negotiate for at least a minute. Funny the cops give these long justified explanations but they are embellishing all thoughts they had in just the 7 seconds before the shooting?
The truly difficult question is not so much whether or not the decision to shoot Mr. Chambelain was correct, but the broader issue that no coroner's jury (at least in the eight years I've been in LV) has ever found a police shooting "not justified". What message does this send to police officers? If there are no consequences for using lethal force, there's frankly no incentive to consider the use of non-lethal force if doing so could potentially endanger the officer (e.g. if they wade into a fight with a nightstick). My thoughts and prayers go to the Chamberlain family and the officer, who will both have to live with the consequences of his decision for the rest of their lives.
TEXT BOOK -- the way law enforcement is trained and reinforced through simulation to make life-n-death split-decisions - correctly.
Video footage should be the engagement standard, particularly since "swam" tactics are being employed -- to "protect" everyone involved.
All killings by Metro better be justified, yet we all know everyone possesses the "human" element of error, that is with the exception Metro and/or those ruling upon their killings.
The Gestapo was also played errorless ball right up to that final game in Nuremberg.
: )
For the MOTHER of Tanner- your son was killed in cold blood. Officer C was trained on how to handle hostage situations. He was also trained on how to work with mental illness. But he didn't even try to defuse the situation. 3 of his fellow officers were going to use their training, but Officer C shot your 15 year old son in the head in less than 60 seconds from approaching you both. And it was ruled "JUSTIFIED".
But don't worry, the Universe will see to it that Officer C gets what he deserves for his IMPATIENCE. Ah, patience...such a hard lesson for some to learn.And Officer C will know when his Karma has returned to him. He will know..
.
Metro is out of hand and they all stick together. The Sheriff needs to lose his bid for re election.
I find it odd, the Mother was more afraid of the LE than her son who had the knife.
She was heard shouting "Don't shoot him, not don't cut me, or he's going to kill me, need I say more.
God have Mercy on our soles.
I think this is called a hostage situation; therefore a hostage negotiator is in order. Don't we pay for one of those from our taxes.
There was no clear shot for the tazer, so I guess it is ok to use a side-arm: "He said he was unable to use the Taser on Tanner because of how the boy had been holding his mother. Not only could San Martin not get a clear shot, but Tanner kept guiding his mother toward a wall and San Martin couldn't get behind the boy, he said".
They should have tazed the mother and then tazed the son, but what do I know, I was not one of the actors in that drama.
A schizoid teen threatens his own mother and threatens armed police officers with a lethal knife?
Why did the local government even hold a hearing on this incident?
Cops have every right to shoot nutcases like they did this crazy kid. Probably saved the mother and/or a police officer.
This shooting was totally justified.
I never took my mother hostage and threatened her life by putting a knife to her throat and I was considered a trouble maker while growing up.
And I'll bet money Charles Manson never put a knife to his own mothers throat either.
That kid was something else, the same kind of something else that abuse & kill their parents.
Metro officer's fatal shooting of teen ruled justified ! "Tanner Chamberlain's mother,
called for " help " she wasn't calling for a
Hit-man to murder her son ! and you call this " Justification ". " Metro " you need
serious Training in this field to better assist
you with dealing with people who suffer from
" Mental - Disorders. Of all the places that
there are to shoot someone ! you dicided you
wanted to go for his " head ". "Just like that ! ". " You took a young mans life, to save
a life ! , so that "Tanner's mom can go on with
the rest of " life " with this terrible regret ,
and suffering the life of he " son " !
Im sure thats not all she calling " Metro cop's
who took her sons life ! " This is surely not
as some of you have it " JUSTIFICATION !
It's cold bloodied " Murder" behind the ....
Steel-Badge. " My condolences goes out to Tanner's family, and friends .
Case closed. Now, we can try to figure how how the boy got from there to here. A life of chaos and neglect? No dad in the picture? Revolving-door significant other male substitutes for dad? Whatever the answers, looking back, I'm sure it could all have been avoided. A lot of soul searching is sure to take place in this family -- if a family even exists.
Too many "nice guy" Metro officers operate as if life is like the still frame from this taser gun camera.
"Faceless scumbag with knife trying to kill woman...must shoot scumbag."
I wonder if this idiot cop would have shot the kid if the kid was his own son? Would the officer have shot if the weapon was simply the kids arm? Was frigging mace ever considered? or maybe ending the confrontation by backing off?
I do like the testimony by the sergeant saying using the Taser was not the correct method to use...how utterly convenient to say that now in a case investigating the use of a firearm and a Homicide.
Again, NEVER call Metro for anything unless you want to commit suicide or have a relative or friend killed. Beyond that, always remember you are dealing with stupid people with training barely above potty. They are not properly trained and think they are playing a video game.
Avoid Metro like the plague.
That's right, idiots, fear Metro and anything else you do not understand. Crawl under a rock or into a cave and spend the rest of your days peering out. Keep watching TV for your information about police work and then vocally show your ignorance on these posts by asking why they didn't shoot him in the leg, use mace, or my personal favorite "why didn't they call a hostage negotiator?" Even you must read that statement and realize how stupid that is.
To all of you with such keen hindsight into what the officers should have done now that you have had months to digest the information and weigh out options, and not the seconds that the officers had on the scene, stop armchair quarterbacking the police and go play fantasy football or something.
To all of the cops out there doing the job, know that there are normal people out there who support you and hope you stay safe.
Bt the way, it was a ballsy shot. That is a well trained officer
There are few cases in which I feel that deadly force is justifiable when the person has a knife. It's a knife. Even if he had cut her I don't think it would have been deadly unless he had been allowed to repeatedly stab her before intervention. But while I disagree that it was necessary that a shot be fired at all, the shot to the head was the right decision. The threat was eliminated. Permanently.
As per the statement what if it was my mother? Well, then the cops would have killed my brother.
The real test is not whether some wingnut on the Sun thinks "good riddance" to someone they don't know, but all the instances of family members condemning what happened on the news outlets. No justice was served for them.
Introduction To Crisis Negotiations: This session will examine the roots of Hostage / Crisis Negotiations. The students will learn the Why of negotiating and the numerous ways that a Crisis Negotiation Team should be utilized.
Tactical Use Of Negotiators: The role of the Negotiator is misunderstood in many Tactical circles. The student will learn the value of Negotiators in deploying the tactical option.
Team Structure: The structuring of a crisis negotiation team and the importance of command personnel, their understanding and support will be discussed. (This structure works for small and large agencies alike)
Basics Of Negotiating: The function and duties of each team member including command personnel will be explained and discussed.
Communication Skills: The student will be given an in-depth overview of Communication Skills. Both conversational speaking and listening are the tools of communication. (Active Listening Skills) The importance of being able to listen well is a necessary tool for the successful negotiator.
Psychology Of Negotiations: In this segment students will discuss in laymen's terms the mental disorders that are prevalent during crisis situations. Identifying the mental disorder and dealing with it in a crisis situation.
Terrorism and the Negotiator: Can we negotiate with a terrorist? We will discuss the different methods of negotiating with terrorist. An understanding of the ideology and culture of terrorist. Can we negotiate with TERRORIST?
Case Studies: Each and every hostage and crisis situation is different. The cases we will review are a diverse sampling of the instructors experiences. A burglary which turns into a hostage situation, a bank hold-up goes bad and an international hijacking.
Dealing With The Media: In this segment the students will learn the value of forming a working alliance with the media rather than an adversarial relationship.
Suicide Intervention: Can you talk a person into committing suicide? The myths and the truth about suicide will be discussed.
The Resolution: Sometimes our success is bittersweet, we will discuss the Good and Bad side of a resolution.
The Aftermath: Negotiator Stress, second guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking will be discussed.
Role Plays: Both instructors will guide the students through the tense and very stressful job of negotiating with various types of Hostage Takers and Emotionally disturbed people. Students will get a chance to participate as a team member and use the most advanced electronic equipment that is on the market today.
Metro and in this the cop did the right thing and probably ended up saving a life in the long run If this idiot did this to his mom, what makes you think he wouldn't do it to a stranger and and acually kill the person. While his death while tragic, probably saved lives in the long run.
Seminar Title: Hostage Negotiations - Phase I & II
http://www.patc.com/index.shtml
Wow.. reading all these negative comments about Metro is disgusting. I would have shot that psycho too if I saw him holding a knife to someone's throat. And for the guy that said, "it's a KNIFE." Yeah, it's a knife. Knives, believe it or not, are more dangerous then guns. "why didn't they shoot him in the arm or shoulder?" Those are two SMALL targets. The officer could have missed his target and hit the mother, the victim.
THANK YOU METRO FOR TAKING ANOTHER CRAZED LUNATIC OFF OUR STREETS!!!!
As long as there are these out of control, abusive, psychotic poeple out there thereatening society (and their own mother), occasionally one is going to be taken out. If he chose not to take his medication, that's his wrong, not Metro's. This is the kind of "young man" that could have easily caused Columbine type incidents. His neighborhood is a safer place today.
I thought we build an emergency hospital for people with mental illness, but it looks like Metro ships these people to the morgue instead.
Bring him DOWN....thats all they had to do,not KILL him. like so so many.
I'm glad that none of you pansies on this thread are police officers patroling these streets or the criminals would be running wild, you stinking liberals!! What were the officers supposed to do hand him a lollipop or give him a free day pass to adventure dome? How are you supposed to bring down a crazy out of his mind nuttjob who will not drop his deadly weapon? You cannot taser people like this when a hostage is involved. The moment the officers arrived their main objective was to make sure the mother made it out alive not the knife weilding lunatic. Don't all of you already know if you don't drop your weapon police are going to shoot you? Law enforcement doesn't shoot to injure they shoot to kill that's what they are trained to do.
Hey, the mom is cute.
Well go watch the video. He does not have his arm around her neck at all. His hand is under her arm pulling her backwards. The knife is not against her neck, it is away from her. The mother has no fear she tells the Police to not shoot. She even has her handbag with her.
Unfortunately one of the idiots who responded has a history of simply executing people and passes sentence on this 15 year old kid...death. His second execution in less than 2 years.
If Tanner intended to kill his mother he would have done it long before these moron cops showed up. A fact totally ignored by Metro. They also want you to focus all the attention this knife since that is the ONLY thing which could be consider any justification for this shooting.
This kid was not threatening his mother, he was using her as a shield from moron cops and their stupid decisions. You know this from the mother's account told to these tone deaf mute cops. Instead of backing off as they should have, these morons continued to escalate the situation and then simply killed the kid. They didn't care one wit about anybody but themselves in this.
Absolutely ridiculous is about all you can say about this. This kid was killed by the Medical Mafia and Metro Police, simple as that.
Police forces across the U.S need a "national framework", for vetting new recruits to ensure criminals do not become officers, senior police chiefs have warned .
I live inthose apartments. Metro should up 5 seconds later the kid was dead.
metro couldn't negotiate, diffuse the situation, nothing? if metro can't handle a mentally ill 15 year old, what is their training for? I seen video from other countries where a man has a knife to someone's throat and the police have successfully negotiated or used nonlethal force. Metro's only option is to kill children? this is what our tax dollars pay for? but the point is mute never has Metro been held accountable for shooting unarmed victims so why would this situation be different. don't even have a hearing we all know the outcome
*showed up
If saying 7 seconds of negotiation is "Stop or I'll shoot", then that peace officer did the best job he could. Bull riders deal better under that circumstances, they get 8 seconds.
It seems that deadly force was unfortunate in this situation where you have a mental case kid holding a knife to his mother who is begging the cops NOT to kill her son. Perhaps it would have been better for all of the officials to back off and defuse the situation, where at the right moment some type of non lethal force could have been used to restrain him. Not an easy call here, but something just seems wrong with this incident..
If he would have complied with the officers commands he would not have been shot.
Death by Metro.