Officer Left With No Other Choice Before Shooting Marine

Police officer: 'I had no choice' but to shoot Marine 
The Desert Sun
Brett Kelman
February 19, 2015

Cpl. Allan DeVillena II

(Photo: Provided photo)

More than two years after a fatal police shooting in Palm Springs, newly unsealed law enforcement documents reveal that the aggressive behavior of one officer left his partner with "no choice" but to pull the trigger, ultimately sealing the fate of a High Desert Marine.

This revelation comes directly from the statements of two bicycle officers who shot Cpl. Allan DeVillena II on Nov. 10, 2012. Police interviews with these officers were made public for the first time this month, showing that the officers escalated the confrontation with DeVillena to a matter of life and death.

DeVillena, 22, was shot six times while attempting to flee from officers Mike Heron and Chad Nordman in the public parking garage in downtown Palm Springs. DeVillena, a drunk driver, ignored officers' commands to stop, and allegedly struck Heron with the front bumper of his car.

The two officers were cleared by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office last year. However, the D.A.'s review only examined whether the officers committed a crime during the shooting and did not measure the quality of their police work.

Marines from the Combat Logistic Batalion 7 who served with Cpl. Allan DeVillena II attend a candlelight vigil for him at the parking garage where he was fatally shot by Palm Springs Police on November 10th. Photo taken on Thursday, November 15, 2012.
(Photo: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)

The newly released documents show that the confrontation with DeVillena became dangerously escalated when Nordman attempted to stop the Marine's car by jumping through the passenger-side window. According to the new documents, Heron did not see his partner jump through the window, so he assumed Nordman had been pulled into the car against his will and was under the mistaken impression that Nordman was being attacked. As a result, Heron opened fire.
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