MODESTO POLICE CALL SHOOTING MYSTERY

The September police-shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Modesto during
a drug raid was an accident, but exactly how it happened is unknown, the
Modesto Police Department said Wednesday.

The announcement came after three separate investigations -- two by the
Police Department and one by the city attorney's office, Detective Doug
Ridenour said.

Alberto Sepulveda was shot in the back by veteran SWAT team member David
Hawn during a federal drug raid.

Ridenour said there were three possibilities: One is that the weapon
malfunctioned, which Ridenour said is unlikely. Another is that a piece of
equipment struck the trigger. The third is that Hawn pulled the trigger
accidentally.

Hawn is back on the job after being put on paid leave after the shooting,
which is routine in such incidents, Ridenour said. The year before the
shooting, Hawn was cleared of wrongdoing in another incident in which his
gun misfired and shot a person who had already killed himself during a SWAT
raid.

Two other separate investigations, one by the state Department of Justice
and one by the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office, also are being
conducted.

In a separate press conference Wednesday, family members of the dead boy
vowed to file a civil lawsuit against the Police Department.