From Bill Lindelof:
The fatal shooting of a man by law enforcement officers Jan. 1 has been ruled justifiable by the Placer County District Attorney's office.
On New Year's Day, Rocklin police and California Highway Patrol officers shot and killed former firefighter Gregory Gifford, 54, who was suspected in two robberies and disregarded commands by officers to drop a rifle. The weapon turned out to be a pellet rifle.
"The states of mind of the responding officers to this event demonstrate that the officers took reasonable and necessary action," said Assistant District Attorney Scott Owens. "They believed that their lives, and the lives of the public, were in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury."
Gifford led officers on a short vehicle pursuit that began near Twelve Bridges and Colonnade drives in Lincoln and ended near Fairway Valley Lane.
In a press release, Owens described the chain of events that to Gifford's death:
Gifford left a suicide note for his family prior to the robberies. During the vehicle pursuit he used his cell phone to call his wife and daughter, telling them he wanted to kill himself and that if the police interfered, it was going to be bad.
Gifford also told his wife and daughter that he was loading the gun and ignored their pleas to stop. That information was in turn shared with law enforcement officers.
When stopped by officers, Gifford ignored officer commands that included "lower your hands," put 'em down" and "put it down."
Instead, according to Owens account, he exited the car and began turning toward officers while holding what appeared to be a rifle in his hands. When he began raising the weapon toward them, the officers fired.
Officers found another suicide note in his pocket.
"In that note, Gifford apologized for the horrible thing he was doing, and he had written that the officers 'had no choice,'" Owens wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to law enforcement agencies involved in the incident.
The wife of the retired Sacramento County firefighter told The Bee shortly after his death that her husband was depressed and missed his former job. Gifford was forced into retirement several years ago by a back injury he'd sustained on the job, his wife, Mary Gifford, said.
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