Officer Quintana Shooting: Austin PD

Facts of the incident:

• The shooting occurred on Monday, May 11, 2009 at 5am in the Walnut Creek Apartments at 6409 Springdale Road in East Austin.
• The shooter was Officer Leonardo Quintana, an 8 year veteran of Austin PD. The deceased was Nathaniel Sanders II, 18 years old.
• Three days before the shooting while officers were investigating a recent robbery in the same apartment complex, residents notified them of suspects driving a Mercedes-Benz station wagon and firing shots in the air.
• The morning of the shooting, Officer Quintana observed the Mercedes-Benz station wagon.
• As Officer Quintana followed the Mercedes into the apartment complex, dispatch verified that the vehicle was involved in criminal activity and the occupants could be armed.
• The driver, Michael Franklin, got out and was detained by Quintana. He secured Franklin in the back of his squad.
• Backup Officers Alex Hitzelberg and Mohammad Siddiqui arrived. Of all three squads, only the video camera in Hitzelberg’s was recording.
• Officers approach the Mercedes and Quintana attempts to wake Nathaniel Sanders, asleep in the back seat, with a sternum rub.
• Quintana raises Sanders’ shirt and discovers a gun tucked in the waistband. The audio of Hitzelberg’s videotape records that Quintana alerts other officers of the gun as Quintana and Sanders struggle over it.
• Quintana moves to the rear of the car and begins firing. Two out of three rounds hit Sanders, one in the shoulder and one in the back of the head.
• The front passenger Sir Smith exits the vehicle and runs in a crouched position with his hands at his waistband toward Quintana. Quintana fires twice, hitting Smith once in the upper chest.
• Smith was treated at University Medical Center at Brackenridge and is expected to make a full recovery.
• The Austin American Statesman provides an excellent graphic depicting the positions of the vehicles and the location of Quintana as he fired.
• A handgun with one live round of ammunition was found in Sanders seat. Sanders’ Toxicology Report revealed cocaine, marijuana, and alprazolam (Xanax) in his system.

Officer Hitzelberg’s Dashcam Video of the Shooting

Immediate aftermath

• At about 9am local residents formed a crowd and began yelling obscenities and throwing rocks and bottles at officers.
• Eight officers were injured and eight squad cars were damaged.
• Chief Acevedo was on scene and avoided a bottle thrown at him.
• Officers donned riot gear.
• Community leaders and Sanders’ father attempted to calm tensions.
• Officers are criticized for allowing Sander’s body to remain uncovered for 3 hours while waiting for the medical examiner. An officer later covers the body with a blanket.

Background of Quintana and Sanders

Officer Qunitana was an 8 year veteran of Austin PD.

• 100 Club Officer of the Year in 2003
• Received the Superior Service Citation in 2005
• Received the Commander’s Recognition Award in 2007
• Received the CMT Campaign Ribbon
• Employee of the Year finalist in 2008
• Received a 15 day suspension that was later reduced to a written reprimand for a disturbance with his girlfriend in 2006.

Nathaniel Sanders was 18 years old.

• Attended Travis High and graduated from American Youthworks Charter School but did not receive a diploma because he did not pass TAKS.
• Arrested several times. Most recent arrest was for robbery and had just been released from jail Thursday before the shooting.
• At the time of the shooting he was on probation from a 2008 possession of crack cocaine case.

Issues About The Lack Of Video

• Quintana’s squad car video camera was not running.
• Only one of the two backup officers’ video cameras were running.
• Officer involved shootings in 2003 and 2005 also had not been video recorded.
• The Austin American Statesman Editorial Board immediately emphasized that the video recordings are an important independent verification of facts and labels the lack of them troubling.
• Missing record harms police work was written by Austin American Statesman as a second editorial on the Sunday following the shooting.
• May 23 - Assistant Chief Al Eells states that checks have not uncovered widespread videotape procedure violations. Only one officer had been disciplined in last 17 months.
• May 26 - Austin American Statesman Editorial, Cameras must be on to be helpful, highlights the Birmingham Police Chase as a reason for cameras to be on.
• July 2 - Austin American Statesman reports that the Austin Police Department is revising its camera policy to include an incident where an officer tries to stop or detain a suspect not just pedestrian and traffic stops. Chief Acevedo says that the department will probably impose more severe discipline for officers who demonstrate a willfully disregard of the policy. NAACP President Linder states the issue is enforcement.

Gang Response To Shooting

• Ellis Ingram IV is arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat for calling 911 seven times from two cell phones and threatening police officers. During these 911 calls Ingram threatens to kill officers in retaliation for Sanders death because he was a fellow Bloods gang member. The phone calls include false officer down calls and false bomb calls.
• Sanders’ family repeatedly denies he was a gang member.
• June 6 - Austin PD charge Ingram with making a false report in addition to terrorist threat.

Racial tensions related to use of force

• The Walnut Creek apartment residents are 73% African American and 20% Latino.
• The Department of Justice had recently investigated Austin PD at the behest of the local NAACP chapter for possible civil rights violations related to use of force. The Justice Department released it’s findings in 2009 and made recommendations for improving use of force reviews by supervisors.
• Austin PD has said they are working to put these recommendations in place.
• May 16 - Michael Franklin (driver of Mercedes) and Sir Smith (front seat passenger) meet with New Black Panthers then hold a press conference. Franklin states that Sanders and Smith were asleep when they were shot and that officers are lying.
  (Note: Spartan Cops found this information on May 23 but it was originally published by Fox 7 on May 16)
• May 27 - NAACP meeting to focus on shooting and community by News 8 Austin
• May 27 - NAACP Meeting becomes emotional by KVUE News

Legal Battles

Grand Jury Decision

On Wednesday, August 5th, the Travis County Grand Jury no-billed Officer Leonardo Quintana for the shooting. The Grand Jury consisted of 4 Hispanics, 4 Anglos, 3 African-Americans, and 1 Asian. After the Grand Jury adjourned, the District Attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, released most of the evidence which is listed below.

Wrongful Death Suit

On June 3rd Sanders’ family filed suit against the City of Austin in U.S. District Court. The attorney, Adam Loewy, represented the family of Kevin Alexander who was fatally shot by an Austin PD Sergeant in 2007. That suit was settled for 1.5 million dollars.

This suit alleges Quintana overreacted and without justification shot Sanders. It also alleges bad practices by the department contributed to the shooting including:

• Inadequate supervision concerning use of force.
• Use of excessive deadly force against minorities.
• Inadequate training of officers on how to approach sleeping subjects.

Loewy is critical of the grand jury after their no-bill and questions why the struggle over the gun is not heard on the videotape and why he has not seen evidence of the gun found in Sanders’ seat.

Federal Inquiry

The Sanders’ family attorney stated they are filing a formal complaint with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ has recently investigated Austin PD and in 2009 released recommendations for improving use of force reviews by supervisors.

Career Battles

Reaction by the Chief

Officer involved shootings not only affect the career of the officer but also the chief. Former Police Chief Stan Knee faced both community and officer backlash for shootings during his nine year tenure. In 2005 police union officials called for his resignation because he fired an officer who shot and killed a suspect when she accidently grabbed her firearm instead of her TASER. Correction: The officer lost her TASER during the struggle and shot the suspect because she thought he had her TASER. She was found negligent partly because she was not carrying the TASER in a department approved holster. Thanks to Jerry Staton for that information.

Community leaders gave Chief Art Acevedo good marks for his initial response to this shooting. His response was different from past chiefs by arriving at the shooting scene and giving detailed accounts of the incident soon after instead of just basic facts. Despite the riot squad being called out and Acevedo himself dodging a thrown bottle, they say that his actions kept resident’s tempers from flaring even further. He gave a press conference at the shooting scene and soon after participated in an interview with NAACP President Nelson Linder. On May 20th, he released the 911 tapes.

On June 1st, city officials held a community forum to answer questions about the shooting. During this forum Chief Acevedo apologized to the Sanders’ family for the delay in removing his body from the scene. (Sanders’ body remained at the scene for about five hours, uncovered for some of that time, and that contributed to the tension of local residents.) Acevedo also answered questions from the crowd of 400. Many of those questions revolved around the lack of recordings from squad car video cameras.

Internal Investigation

• Aug 11-Internal Affairs completed their investigation and turned it into the Police Monitor’s Office.
• Aug 19-The Citizen Review Panel called for an independent investigation into the shooting.
• Aug 21-The city hires KeyPoint Government Solutions to conduct the independent investigation. A report is due in late September from them. Chief Acevedo has to make a final decision on the case by Nov 7.

Other Videos

Interview with Austin PD Chief Acevedo and Local NAACP President Nelson Linder

Reference and Media Links

911 call #1
911 call #2
911 call #3
KXAN.com YouTube page with extensive videos about the Quintana Shooting
Man fatally shot by police officer by Austin American Statesman
Neighborhood leaders urge calm by The Austin American Statesman
Police chief hopes investigation will be completed in 60 to 90 days by The Austin American Statesman
Austin Police say large gang associated with threats by CBS 42
Acevedo’s community relationships have first test by Austin American Statesman
KEYETV News Reports on Nathaniel Sanders Shooting Overall timeline of events with video clips by CBS 42
City of Austin releases 911 calls after fatal police shooting by CBS 42
Police say one disciplinary case in 17 months shows cameras are rolling by Austin American Stateman
Two men in police shooting speak out by Fox 7
East Austin community meeting sheds light on divide by News 8 Austin
Officer not indicted in Sanders shooting by The Austin American Statesman
Travis County District Attorney Press Release
Autopsy and Toxicology Report of Nathianel Sanders
Michael Franklin’s Sworn Statement
Officer Mohammad Siddiqui’s Sworn Statement
Officer Alex Hitzelberg’s Sworn Statement
District Attorney’s Diagrams of the Shooting
Arrest record for Nathaniel Sanders
Arrest record for Sir Smith