who had been crouched in a corner of the living room exited the apartment under Carrillo's cover.
Carrillo remained at the top of the landing looking into Marquez' apartment, at which time he heard other officers broadcast the presence of a gun at the scene. Carrillo again yelled to Marquez to put the gun down and to come out of her bedroom. Carrillo heard shuffling sounds from within the bedroom and believed Marquez was preparing to come out.
At that time, Louie directed Carrillo to reposition at the bottom of the stairs because the landing outside Marquez' apartment was too small for tactical positioning of officers. When Carrillo saw that Marquez was not exiting the bedroom, he moved to the bottom of the stairs. As he repositioned himself, additional SPPD units arrived. Carrillo watched Marquez' front door from the base of the stairs and could hear Marquez moving; however, she did not respond to his numerous requests to exit the bedroom. Carrillo then heard what he believed to be the sounds of handgun manipulation, including the insertion of a magazine into the magazine well and the "racking" of a slide. The sounds came from Marquez' apartment.
When Perez entered with the other officers, he took position at the base of the stairs behind a banister. Carrillo moved to his left, behind a corner of drywall from which he could see the top of the stairs. Carrillo again heard the sounds of handgun manipulation and believed he could hear Marquez coming out of the apartment. Carrillo told Perez, "She's walking towards us."
Carrillo called out non-aggressively, "Vanessa, let me see your hands. Drop the gun and let me see your hands." Carrillo explained that as he peered around the corner of the drywall, "I clearly see a black handgun pointed directly in our direction." In a "split second" after he saw the handgun, he saw Marquez' body as she began descending the stairs. In that moment, Marquez was approximately ten feet from the officers, and had the advantage of "high ground."
When Carrillo saw the handgun pointed in their direction, Carrillo was "scared out of [his] mind" and fired approximately eight or nine rounds from his .40 caliber handgun, through the drywall toward Marquez. Perez also fired his weapon.[1] Carrillo and Perez lost sight of Marquez and they retreated from the base of the stairs to the front porch. Another officer looked through a window near the stairs and saw that Marquez was incapacitated on the stairs.
- ↑ Carrillo did not know who fired first.
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