San Bernardino officer cleared in fatal Christmas Day shooting

Prosecutors said Tuesday that a San Bernardino police officer was justified in fatally shooting a 24-year-old man who was later found to be carrying a concealed handgun as he fled officers on foot Christmas Day three years ago.

Officer Jose Loera shot Ephraim Williams during a foot pursuit because he said he saw Williams repeatedly reach toward his waist and thought he had a weapon, according to a report by the San Bernardino district attorney’s office released Tuesday.

The report is based on the accounts of interviews with officers on the scene and eyewitnesses.

Shortly before 6 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2010, officers were dispatched on a report of a man with a gun, prosecutors said. Loera saw Williams, who matched the description given by callers, and Williams ran away. As Loera chased him, according to his account given to prosecutors, he saw Williams reach into his waistband, looking back at Loera as he ran.

Loera fired his gun but thought he had missed Williams. Soon after, prosecutors said, it appeared that Williams tripped. After he had fallen, he continued reaching into his waistband and looking toward the direction where Loera was, “as if trying to find the officer as a target,� prosecutors said.

Loera fired once again.

Williams was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors said that an initial pat down of Williams’ waistband and pockets did not reveal a weapon. Later, however, a deputy coroner found a loaded handgun between Williams’s legs, near his crotch.

An autopsy revealed that Williams died of a gunshot wound to the torso.

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