www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/12/29/news/metro/d62d117ab0c796ca862570e60052dc1b.txtMan tells of dodging bullet
Thursday, December 29, 2005 12:09 PM CST
By JEFF REINITZ, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- A Waterloo man says police shot at him on purpose when an officer's gun discharged Monday night.
Police maintain the shooting was an accident that happened when patrolmen responded to report of shots being fired in the area.
"I don't believe it was an accident," Jermaine Rivera said Wednesday.
Rivera, 21, said he was leaving his apartment building at 328 E. First St. and hadn't taken more than a few steps from the front door when the single gunshot rang out.
"They didn't say freeze, stop or nothing --- just shot," Rivera said.
The bullet passed between Rivera and his brother, Sanir Rivera, who was stepping out of the building behind him.
A few inches either way, and the bullet would have struck one of them, said Ed Tillman, Jermaine's father-in-law.
The bullet continued across the street where it entered 201 Mulberry St. and became lodged in a wall, police said. No one was hurt.
Rivera said he looked up to see a police officer about 15 to 20 feet away with a handgun raised. The officer apologized, Rivera said.
He said police first said they thought he had a small-caliber handgun, but a pat-down search didn't turn up any weapons.
Tillman said police first denied there was a shooting and tried telling his daughter, Rivera's wife, it was just fireworks.
Rivera said the incident happened just after he retrieved a cell phone from his apartment and was heading to Tillman's house. He had seen a squad car drive by before he left but didn't know officers were on foot near his home.
The matter is currently under investigation by police.
Rivera said he hasn't gone to the police station to give a statement but has put together a written complaint he plans to bring to the police department.
According to police, officers were sent to the area of East Mullan and Lafayette Street, about a block from Rivera's house, for a report of shots fired.
Officers who arrived heard what they thought were more gunshots.
The officer, who hasn't been identified, had his pistol drawn when the discharge happened, police said.