BOY'S DEATH AT HANDS OF SWAT TEAM INVESTIGATED

Suspect's 11-year-old Son Shot In Drug Raid

MODESTO -- Police and prosecutors are investigating how an 11-year-old boy
was accidentally shot in the back and killed by a veteran SWAT team member
during a federal drug raid at his family's home.

Alberto Sepulveda, a seventh-grader, died Wednesday morning on the floor of
his bedroom, killed by a blast from Officer David Hawn's shotgun.

"From the preliminary investigation, all indications so far is that the
shooting was accidental," Police Chief Roy Wasden said yesterday.

The chief, addressing the crisis a month after being sworn in, declined to
elaborate until his department and the Stanislaus County District
Attorney's Office complete parallel investigations.

"We'll go through a very exhaustive and thorough investigation to find out
what happened and why," he said. "Then we will try to implement changes to
ensure we will never have a similar accident."

Hawn, a 21-year department veteran and a SWAT team member for more than 18
years, was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the probes.

Mike Van Winkle, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, which has
500 drug agents and investigators, said no veterans he spoke with could
recall any other accidental shooting of children during previous drug raids.

Last year, Hawn was cleared of wrongdoing for misfiring his gun into a
suspect who had already killed himself during a SWAT raid. An internal
investigation concluded an attacking pit bull brushed the muzzle of Hawn's
gun as he and other officers were checking whether the suspect was alive.

"He has a star record," his chief said.

Hawn and five fellow team members entered the Sepulveda home about 6:15
a.m. Wednesday in one of 14 raids that were part of a 9-month U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency investigation into methamphetamine trafficking. The
boy's father, Moises Sepulveda, who owns an auto repair shop, was one of 14
people arrested in the sweep. He was booked on charges of methamphetamine
trafficking and remained jailed yesterday.

The boy's mother, 8-year-old sister and 14-year-old brother were also home
during the raid.

Moises Sepulveda Jr., was on the top bunk above his brother when the SWAT
team began banging on the door. He said he doesn't know if his brother was
awake when he left the room. But his father was and the two met in the hallway.

"My father said to stay calm. Then the front door blew open and they threw
out one of those smoke bombs," the teen-ager said, pointing to the brown
scorch mark left on the living room floor by the canister.

"My dad was cuffed and I was cuffed and one of them was stepping on my
neck, pointing a gun down at me and told me not to move," he said. "I heard
another blast and thought it was another smoke bomb.

"But it turns out they shot my brother."

Yesterday, the family's friends and relatives gathered on the front lawn
outside the Sepulveda home in the city's north side. Inside, the section of
carpet where Alberto died was ripped up, not far from his bed.

"It smelled like blood so bad, so we threw it away," Sepulveda Jr. said.

The boy's mother wanted her privacy and didn't wish to speak. She began
wailing when someone arrived with a copy of the local newspaper and it got
passed her way.

"This is hard for her," said sister-in-law Josefina Felix. "She cried and
said 'I don't understand. He's only 11 years old. He did nothing. Why did
he kill my son?' She cried and cried. And I cried, too."

A Spanish-speaking police chaplain has been assigned to help the family
through the ordeal.

Moises Jr., echoing the feelings of neighbors, relatives and other
community members, said he didn't understand why investigators didn't try
to enter peacefully before breaking down the door.

"They could have come in nicely. We would have opened the door. My dad
isn't the kind of man who would put his family in jeopardy."

In methamphetamine raids, there is a potential of children being present.
More than 1,000 children were found living in clandestine methamphetamine
labs seized by law enforcement officers in California last year, according
to figures released in May.

"There easily could be other people in those residences that are not
suspects," Van Winkle said.