Thread: Language barrier led to fatal shooting, family says

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Language barrier led to fatal shooting, family says


Karina Ioffee
Record Staff Writer
Published Thursday, Nov 17, 2005


STOCKTON -- The man shot and killed by police near Cesar Chavez High School on Saturday would still be alive if he was able to communicate with officers or police had sent someone who could speak Spanish, said relatives of Gustavo Peña Izaguirre on Wednesday.

Peña, 26, a recent immigrant from Mexico, was killed by police after an altercation with officers outside of the school Saturday.

According to friends and relatives, Peña, a farm worker and occasional construction worker, had run out of gas in his car on Windflower Lane about 5 p.m. He had no money and asked others in the area for help, said his cousin, Jesus Peña, 21.

But he only encountered English-speaking students returning from a band competition and parents who were afraid of him and didn't understand what he wanted, Jesus Peña said.

"If there was someone who would have spoken Spanish, none of this would have ever happened," added Teresita Corrales, a close friend of Gustavo Peña Izaguirre.

Police say Peña refused verbal commands and fought with a Stockton Unified officer, causing minor injury to the officer. When Stockton police officers arrived, he again disobeyed orders and was not deterred by the use of pepper spray or a Taser. Peña was armed with a 4-foot sharpened stick, prompting officers to consider him a threat.

"They had exhausted all other options," said Officer Pete Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. "He was not responsive to either one of those options and became even combative. The sergeant who shot him was left with no alternative."

Peña was shot twice in the stomach and died about an hour later at St. Joseph's Medical Center. The decision to shoot came about two minutes after city officers arrived on scene, Smith said.

Whether the fatal shooting was the result of a language barrier, Peña's family and friends believe the force used by police was excessive.

"If they kill everyone who has a stick in their hand, we all have something to fear," Corrales said. "They could have shot him in the arm or leg, but they didn't have to go for the stomach."

Yanet Rodriguez, 22, who was living with Peña, described him as a noble person with high aspirations. But she said he also served time in jail for drug charges and was afraid of being arrested again. And he was, she said, "abusing marijuana."

"I had begged and pleaded with police to get help for him," Rodriguez said. "But no one ever told me where to turn to for help. They told me it wasn't their job."

Along with his family in Stockton, Peña is survived by five brothers and sisters and his father in Sinaloa, Mexico. His body will be sent there Monday for burial.

Sgt. Ken Brown, the officer who shot Peña, was placed on leave for three days, following standard procedure while the department investigates the shooting, police said.

Isn't that just like Americans, they don't even have the courtesy to lean Spanish !

Yanet Rodriguez, 22, who was living with Peña, described him as a noble person with high aspirations.

Or to understand that "high aspirations" has more than one meaning.

And he was, she said, "abusing marijuana."

I nominate the mexican people for best being able to manipulate any situation to where they are the victim and not responsible for what happens to them.
why do they think that the United states owes them anything when they come here in violation of our laws?

I posted a thread on SOS about the CHP recording being in Spanish as the default language for reporting something. This is the same area where this shooting was. The volumne of spanish speakers in that area is high due to ag industry needs, and the brotherhood of the cloth attraction.
By the way,
I never did get a reply from the CHP about that....Now I'll resend the Email for the 3rd time