DOJ Agents involved in shootout with dangerous felon at Palm Springs casino
-- Suspect killed after shooting at officers
Two California Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Agents were shot at outside a Palm Springs casino Tuesday night (Jan. 15) by a fleeing felon who refused to be taken into custody.
One Special Agent Supervisor and one Special Agent from the DOJ’s Special Investigation Unit, along with officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Palm Springs Police Department, were conducting surveillance on a convicted felon they had located at the Spa Resort Casino.
The man, identified by the Desert Sun newspaper as 24-year-old Nino Joseph Garcia, Jr. of Banning had a string of felony convictions, including drug and firearms, stretching back to 2002. As Garcia emerged from the casino, task force officers attempted to take him into custody, before he fled on foot. At one point during the pursuit, Garcia brandished a weapon and fired at the officers, who returned fire, killing Garcia. No officers were hurt, but a slot machine attendant had to be taken to a local hospital for treatment of wounds from a stray bullet. A full investigation is being conducted.
“Fortunately none of our agents were harmed in this incident,” said Jim Vitko, president of the Association of Special Agents Department of Justice, recalling a November instance when a BNE agent was shot in the abdomen by a suspected gang member who had just emerged from an apartment building after shooting six people, killing one of them. “Unfortunately incidents like these will only increase over time, as we execute the Attorney General’s mandate to clamp down on violent felons. This is the future, so I am making a special plea to all Special Agents to be doubly careful out there.”
The full Desert Sun story can be read by clicking the link below.
-- Suspect killed after shooting at officers
Date: 1/17/2008
One Special Agent Supervisor and one Special Agent from the DOJ’s Special Investigation Unit, along with officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Palm Springs Police Department, were conducting surveillance on a convicted felon they had located at the Spa Resort Casino.
The man, identified by the Desert Sun newspaper as 24-year-old Nino Joseph Garcia, Jr. of Banning had a string of felony convictions, including drug and firearms, stretching back to 2002. As Garcia emerged from the casino, task force officers attempted to take him into custody, before he fled on foot. At one point during the pursuit, Garcia brandished a weapon and fired at the officers, who returned fire, killing Garcia. No officers were hurt, but a slot machine attendant had to be taken to a local hospital for treatment of wounds from a stray bullet. A full investigation is being conducted.
“Fortunately none of our agents were harmed in this incident,” said Jim Vitko, president of the Association of Special Agents Department of Justice, recalling a November instance when a BNE agent was shot in the abdomen by a suspected gang member who had just emerged from an apartment building after shooting six people, killing one of them. “Unfortunately incidents like these will only increase over time, as we execute the Attorney General’s mandate to clamp down on violent felons. This is the future, so I am making a special plea to all Special Agents to be doubly careful out there.”
The full Desert Sun story can be read by clicking the link below.
For more information:
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/NEWS0801/801160325
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