ESCONDIDO — Authorities have released video footage of two patrol officers’ fatal shooting of a parolee who opened fire on them when they tried to arrest him last fall at an Escondido mobile home park.
The events that led to the deadly law enforcement shootout began shortly after 6:30 a.m. Nov. 3, when a resident of the trailer park in the 2500 block of East Valley Parkway reported that a stranger in a sleeping bag was on her porch, according to Escondido police.
Following a brief argument with the woman, the trespasser, later identified as 48-year-old Douglas Quinn of Indiana, walked over to a nearby parked motorcycle and began pushing it away through the complex.
Escondido Police Officers Anthony Lay and Michael Statti arrived a short time later. With their uniform-worn cameras activated, they made contact with Quinn, who told them he had gone to the mobile home park in search of a friend.
In response to the lawmen’s questions, Quinn said he had ridden his motorcycle from the Midwest to the San Diego area in search of work, had spent about 20 years in prison and admitted that he was the subject of a parole violation arrest warrant issued in his home state.
A short time later, when one of the lawmen told Quinn the officers were “just going to put (him) in (hand)cuffs,” he bolted, pulled a handgun from his waistband, pointed it across his body at the officers while running away and fired several rounds, according to police.
Lay and Statti returned fire, and Quinn collapsed into a hedge alongside a brick perimeter wall. While on the ground, Quinn turned toward the officers, still holding the gun, prompting one of them to fire several more shots at him.
After backup officers arrived, police sent in a service dog to check on Quinn. When he remained motionless, the personnel moved in and performed CPR on him, to no avail. Paramedics then took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
