DEPUTIES INVOLVED IN SECOND POT GROW KILLING CLEARED

Outgoing Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott has ruled
the August 18 shooting of Mariano Lopez-Fernandez, 31, of Boonville,
by the Mendocino County SWAT Team was justified.

The district attorney's office conducted an on-scene investigation
following the shooting, interviewing witnesses and gathering forensic
evidence.

The district attorney concluded Lopez-Fernandez died after he "took a
position of cover behind a large group of trees and pointed a loaded
semi-automatic rifle at the SWAT team. The three deputies on the SWAT
team fired at Lopez-Fernandez from a distance of 10 to 15 feet" with
their rifles. Lopez-Fernandez was struck several times, and although
deputies stopped shooting once he dropped his weapon and "immediately
rendered first aid," he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lopez-Fernandez died of multiple gunshot wounds, and had small amounts
of alcohol, meth and marijuana in his blood, according to an autopsy
report.

Several other grow guards, some also armed with semi-automatic rifles,
fled from the area during the shooting. Two deputies investigating
another nearby garden began running through the thick brush toward the
sound of gunfire by the SWAT team. The deputies came upon three armed
men near a creek bed. One of those men fired a handgun at the
deputies, who returned fire. The deputies, who were out in the open,
retreated up the hill to get under cover. The three armed guards
escaped before reinforcements could arrive.

No one was injured during the altercation, and none of the armed
guards were captured, despite an extensive manhunt.

The five deputies involved in the two shootings on the Laytonville
property were relieved of duty and placed on administrative leave
until the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office completed an
administrative review. The deputies returned to duty about a week
after the internal review was finished.

The names of the officers involved in the shooting were not revealed
by either the district attorney or the sheriff's office. The sheriff
has refused to identify the deputies involved in any of the three
fatal shootings this year, citing concerns about possible retaliation
against his forces by Mexican drug cartels.