The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has identified those involved in a shooting by deputies that left one man dead in a Vista apartment complex Friday.
Sheriff's homicide Lt. Glenn Giannantonio said Monday that Michael Napier, 33, was shot and killed by Dep. Brandon Boisseranc, a 6-year department veteran, and Dep. Nicholas Danza, a 7-year department veteran.
On Friday four members of the Vista Sheriff’s Station Gang Enforcement Team was trying to arrest Napier on a felony narcotics warrant. Napier was also a suspect in two burglaries.
The deputies spotted Napier inside a garage at the Shadow Ridge Park Apartments in the 2000 block of South Melrose Drive at about 6:20 p.m.
According to Giannantonio, the team asked Napier to show them his hands, but instead Napier reached both hands down to his waistband.
Fearing that he was reaching for a gun, Boisseranc and Danza shot him. Napier was hit six times and was pronounced dead at the apartment complex.
No gun was found on Napier After a search of the garage, deputies did not find a weapon, although they said they found a knife stuck in the wall next to where he was standing. Investigators also found property that was reported stolen in at least one residential burglary and one vehicle burglary.
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Giannantonio said deputies knew Napier had been previously arrested for illegal firearm possession, which is why they used deadly force.
"No deputy comes to work wanting to shoot somebody." said Giannantonio. "Using a firearm or deadly force is a last resort, and if Mr. Napier had complied with the deputies' lawful orders, all of this would have been avoided."
Napier's father said that, after the incident, he tried to get more information from officials at the scene, but he was handcuffed and wasn't given any details.
He told NBC 7 that Napier leaves behind two children – a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old.
