Officer Shooting Caught On Camera, El Cajon – San Diego News Video

From youtube:

EL CAJON – August 21, 2011 – An officer is shot right in front of a news camera. The entire event is caught on camera including shots fired, officer rescue, SWAT standoff, house fire, helicopter water drops, and more.

The suspect, Kevin Collier, shot his 1-year old daughter, his mother-in-law and then police showed up (me too). Upon arriving, officers were met with gunfire from the suspect who had an assault rifle of some sort. Officer Jared Slocum was struck in the left temple, where it exited the rear of his skull. He was NOT shot in the neck, as it appears. The suspect then set the house on fire, before shooting himself. The fire department could not approach because officers could not confirm if the suspect was dead or not. Firefighters are not going to walk up to a home with the possibility of a man inside with an assault rifle. Officers requested Mercy Air for transport, but instead took the wounded officer by ground in a patrol car as it would be much quicker. This was on a dead-end street, so the rescue of having to pass the line of fire was very risky. A gas line explodes at one point (bluish smoke). SWAT set up and work with the fire department to help slow the rate of spread. Two helicopters begin water drops, which I have never seen before on a structure, only brush fires. Officer Slocum is doing well, but has decided to “medically retire” from the El Cajon Police Department, move, and go back to college. The officer who was with him, Officer Tim McFarland, was a rookie at the time and was being trained by Slocum. So if anyone wants to badmouth him, keep in mind he was still learning the ropes and in my opinion did everything right. Officer Slocum’s wound, although severe due to the location, had very very little blood loss. So for those appauled that none of us applied pressure, quite frankly it wasn’t neccessary and he was capable of doing it himself. And for all you anti-cop commenters, keep in mind, officers are still humans with families. The men and women in this video are excellent officers. Especially Slocum and McFarland.

Former El Cajon Police Chief (at the time) Pat Sprecco said “That’ll be used as a training tool for a long time”, referring to the footage.

This footage won an Emmy Award for Spot/Breaking News Coverage.