Saturday’s calm in Tustin was broken by gunfire when Tustin Police Officers responded to a domestic violence call that resulted in an officer-involved-shooting. The responding officers were confronted by a man with a gun who refused repeated directions to drop his weapon. The man was subsequently transported to the hospital for treatement of a single gunshot wound. From the press release:

Officers were dispatched to the 14400 block of Newport Ave reference a call of a disturbance in the in which one of the involved parties was armed with a handgun. The first officers on scene entered the residence where they encountered a 46 year old male along with a female subject and a juvenile male. The 46 year old male was armed with a handgun; the female and the juvenile male were arguing with the male and attempting to get the gun away from him. Officers ordered all subjects away and gave the 46 year old male commands to drop the gun. The male did not comply with the officers commands and an officer involved shooting occurred. The shooting caused the suspect to drop the gun and officers then began medical aid.

We are fortunate that things like this are a rare occurrence around our town Tustin. When they do happen, I have enough confidence in officers of our department to have done the right thing. While no one wants something like this to happen, it is good to know the department takes their job seriously to protect our citizens. It should be noted that, after the shooting, the officers immediately responded by performing first aid on the suspect until paramedics arrived (as opposed to a celebratory high five). The conspiracy theorists and cop haters, who have already inundated the Register story on the shooting, will disagree. They would like to lump all cops into the same basket and call them all rotten. One of the things that makes our department unique is the accreditation due to the training they receive. It does make a difference.

The shooting investigation has been turned over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. As one commenter on the Register put it, the OCDA will investigate and exonerate. But, guess what? Most shootings of this type are legitimate. Why? Because the officer was trained to respond with the appropriate use of force, not because the DA wants to cover up another shooting. And, with our DA’s current track record, I doubt if a coverup is much on his mind these days.