Suspect yelled for officers to shoot and kill him
Morgan Hill – Several Morgan Hill Police officers and Sheriff’s Office deputies had an unnerving experience Friday night as a Morgan Hill man apparently attempted suicide – but he wanted the officers to do the shooting.
“They thought they were going to have to shoot him,” MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson said Monday. “It wasn’t clear if he had a weapon, but he was certainly acting as if he did, and he yelled for them to shoot him.”
Eduardo Luna, 21, was talking on a cell phone when officers responded to a call at approximately 11pm in the area of Peppertree and Jasmine Way.
“He was telling whoever he was talking to that he was going to die that night,” Sampson said. “He refused to show officers his hands, then reached into his jacket as though he was going to pull out a weapon. He made a furtive movement, and officers took cover.”
The call to police came from neighbors, Sampson said, after Luna was reportedly punching walls and doors of residences in the neighborhood.
“He had some self-inflicted wounds, cuts and bruises,” added Sampson.
Believing he had a gun, officers attempted to detain him with Tasers, but the thick jacket he was wearing diminished the effect of the jolt, and Luna continued to try to evade officers.
“It was a mobile type of thing,” Sampson said. “He was moving around the neighborhood, and officers were attempting to contain him.”
The four MHPD officers were soon joined by seven Sheriff’s Office deputies, he said, and the deputies tried to bring Luna down with what are known as less lethal shotgun rounds, or beanbags. Once again, Luna allegedly stopped, turned around, behaving as if he had a gun or a knife.
Officers then tried using rubber bullets, but they apparently had no effect on him.
“Finally, they circled him and doused him with pepper spray,” Sampson said. “He finally gave up and dropped to his knees.”
Luna was taken to Valley Medical Center in San Jose to be treated for his self-inflicted wounds. He was then placed on a mental health hold.
Sampson said routine blood tests were conducted, but he did not have results and did not know if Luna was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“He could have been on some psychotropic drug,” he said. “Or, if he was on medication for psychological problems, sometimes when they go off the meds, then they can go off the rails like this. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty common call for service.”
Luna’s bid to commit “suicide by cop” – he frequently yelled out for officers to shoot him – was unsuccessful, and Sampson said he is proud of the officers for their handling of the situation.
“They really exercised a lot of self-restraint,” he said. “They did everything they needed to do, and did not have to shoot him. They didn’t know what, if any weapon, he had, and tensions are pretty high following the shooting of the officer in Palo Alto. We are proud of the way they handled the situation.”
