An officer-involved shooting took the life of a local 22-year-old man last night. It happened in the neighborhood near the Port/Ayers shopping center, and now four police officers are on paid administrative leave.
CCPD Police Chief Michael Markle commented on the shooting in a news conference Monday morning, saying what happened is unfortunate for everyone.
"It's tragic," he said. "My heart goes out to the family. My heart goes out to the officers involved in this."
Meanwhile, nearby neighbors told KRIS Communications they were home when the shots were fired.
Mike Villarreal, one neighbor, said his neighborhood usually is a quiet one.
"It's a pretty quiet neighborhood," he said. "We've never had any problems since I've been here."
Villarreal said he heard three shots fired.
"We came to the door and we looked through the window and there were cops everywhere, some lady screaming," Villarreal said. "But then after the gun shots, we just stayed away from the windows and went back inside."
The shooting happened near Cuiper and Spring Streets, but the disturbance that led up to the shooting began a block away.
The CCPD police blotter said the initial call to police came from a family member in the 4300 block of Brentwood Drive. It was a disturbance call about a man, who's since been identified as Emilio Mojica, who was armed with a baseball bat.
When officers arrived, Mojica still had a bat in his hand and was being aggressive. Mojica began walking toward Cuiper Park, but he was ignoring the officers' commands to drop the bat. Eventually, each of the four officers following him tried to tase him, which had no effect.
Mojica continued to be aggressive and that's when one officer fired his gun, hitting him several times. Mojica later died at a local hospital.
No one else was injured during the shooting.
Markle also said several witnesses are being interviewed, and the investigation remains ongoing. he also said the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
