On February 17th 2015, police officers opened a barrage of gunfire on a machete wielding truck driver in Del Rio, Texas, when he refused to exit his 18-wheeler and began to drive towards them.
The truck driver, Pedro “Pete” Saldiver was killed in the shooting, which was caught on video and posted to social media.
Those officers are now in hot water because of how they responded to the incident. While the shooting of the driver was warranted, police say, the officers endangered bystanders with their overzealous response.
According to Kens-5 eyewitness news, an internal investigation report indicated the following:
-Officer raced to scene at speeds reaching 118 MPH
-Probationary officer developed habit of using cell phone to communicate instead of police radios
-Supervisor officer was not wearing body armor
-Supervisor officer failed to manage personnel, causing the rest of the city to not be covered properly
-Discharge of weapons put officers and citizens in danger
As a result of their findings, the Del Rio Police Department punished several officers that were involved in the shooting.
Two officers resigned in lieu of being terminated, while seven others were suspended for various lengths of time. The suspensions were as short as one day and as long as fifteen days.
The police department said that none of the officers will face criminal charges.
