A citizens' review board ruled San Diego County sheriff's deputies' actions in the fatal shooting of an unarmed known gang member were justified.
Sergio Weick, 33, was shot and killed after a confrontation with deputies on Aug. 11, 2016.
The District Attorney's Office had previously ruled the shooting was justified.
Deputies said Weick was a known gang member and had a warrant out for his arrest when they spotted him leaving the home of another known gang member in Vista.
The sighting soon led to a short high-speed, wrong-way pursuit through Vista until Weick's car crashed - and deputies pursued him on foot through a condo complex, deputies said.
The foot chase ended when deputies Peter Myers and Christopher Villanueva caught up to Weick standing near some bushes.
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Deputies shot Weick on the left side of his body when they say he reached for his waist and “appeared to reach for a weapon." The deputy yelled several times for Weick to put his hands up, officials said.
Fearing the suspect was holding a gun, one deputy shot Weick. A second deputy then saw Weick reach for a what appeared to be a gun on his left hip. "Fearing he was about to be shot, that deputy also shot Mr. Weick," then-District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said as she announced the results of her office's investigation into the shooting.
An autopsy report shows Weick was shot 18 times and suffered 27 separate wounds as a result.
Investigators say Weick had shotgun shells and knives on him. They later found a sawed-off shotgun, knives and drug paraphernalia in his car.
No video of the incident exists because Sheriff's deputies were not equipped with body-worn cameras.
In their ruling released Monday, the Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board said, "Absent conflicting witness statements or videos of the shooting event, there was no evidence to support an allegation of procedural violation, misconduct, or negligence on the part of Sheriff's Department sworn personnel."
