Officer involved in fatal shooting of teen identified

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 | 5:04 p.m.

Police fatally shoot teen armed with knife; boy identified (9-29-09)

Shooting

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Officer-involved shooting

The Metro Police officer involved in the fatal shooting of teenager Tanner Chamberlain has been identified.

Officer Derek Colling has been with Metro Police since September 2005, police said. He is currently assigned to the Southeast Area Command.

Police said Colling responded Tuesday to a domestic dispute call involving a "person with a weapon," police said.

When officers arrived at 4855 E. Vegas Valley Drive about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, they said they saw Chamberlain and his mother struggling in front of an apartment.

The boy, a junior at Chaparral High School, had his hand on the woman's shoulder and was holding a knife -- which police said had a blade 4 1/2 inches long -- at the throat of his mother.

Officers said they ordered him to drop the knife, but he made a threatening gesture with the knife and an officer fired a single shot.

The boy's mother, Evie Oquendo, has disputed the police version of the story, saying she cried out to them not to shoot her son.

Colling has been placed on paid administrative leave. The shooting is under investigation.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By afveteran

10/1/09 at 7:59 p.m.

Suggest removal

The kid was manic depressive and schizoid, wasn't he?
By AngryReader

10/1/09 at 10:31 p.m.

Suggest removal

This whole thing is really sad. I don't think there are any bad guys to blame. Just a bad, bad set of events. Sad.
By Wolfdog

10/2/09 at 7:59 a.m.

Suggest removal

A mother pleading with a police officer not to shoot her son, and he does it anyway is murder in anybody's book. This officer should be charged with first degree murder. To bad Mr.Rogers, won't get off his butt and start doing his job. Time to vote him out of office.
By darthbry

10/2/09 at 12:42 p.m.

Suggest removal

Wolfdog, you are ignorant and garbage in my book. The officer acted as he should have. Do us all a favor, when someone has a knife to your throat, and after you have pissed and s--- your pants, don't call for help, especially from the police. Of course, knowing you, you would file a law suit because they took 5 minutes to respond to your location instead of 4. Great job on the officers part to have the skill in a the most stressful and scary situation an officer can be in (I speak from actual experience) to hit the THREAT only and save this woman's life.
By modd

10/9/09 at 2:28 p.m.

Suggest removal

F. the Po Po.
By ThomasLong

10/10/09 at 12:45 a.m.

Suggest removal

When this story is read with an open mind, you can see that the mother disputes the police story. That is a HUGE red flag. That tells me the police are hiding something. The mother has nothing to hide.

To Wolfdog... you need wake up. As Winston Churchhill said, "We will not realized we lost our freedom until it is gone".