AUTOPSY REPORT

 I performed an autopsy on the body of Mario Paz

 at the DEPARTMENT OF CORONER

NO:99-05461

PAZ, Mario

Los Angeles, California on  AUGUST 14, 1999 @ 1100 HOURS

From the anatomic findings and pertinent history I ascribe the death to:

MULTIPLE GUNSHOT WOUNDS

Anatomical Summary:

I. 

Officer-involved shooting involving a 63-year-old Hispanic male shot twice in mid-back during service of a search warrant.

II .

        Multiple gunshot wounds:

A. Gunshot wound #1 to right mid-back, penetrating, fatal:

  1. Entry: Right mid-back, 19-3/4 inches from the top of the head and 2 inches right of the midline. No soot or stippling.
  2. Direction: Back to front, right to left, and horizontal.
  3. Path: Skin, fracture of 11th and 12th posterior ribs, right lung, diaphragm, right adrenal gland, liver and greater omentum.
  4. Exit: None.
  5. Projectile: Medium caliber lead bullet with copper jacket recovered in mid-abdomen.

                                        B. Gunshot wound 42 to mid-back, penetrating, fatal:

  1. Entry: Mid-back, 19-1/4 inches from the top of the head and 1/2 inch right of the midline. No soot or stippling.
  2.  Direction: Back to front, right to left, and horizontal.
  3. Path: Skin, 11th and 12th thoracic vertebrae, spinal cord, aorta, pancreas, stomach, splenic artery and abdominal musculature.
  4. Exit: None.
  5. Projectile: Medium caliber lead bullet with copper jacket recovered in left upper abdomen

                                  III.
                                    Other findings:
                                    A. Radiopaque fragments, left knee, remote.

                                IV.   
                                    See Toxicology Report.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

The decedent is a 63-year-old Hispanic male shot multiple times by police officers. The decedent was being served with a search warrant by El Monte Police Department Swat Team. The decedent failed to meet multiple commands from officers to cease movements. The decedent was shot by the police officer. He was found kneeling alongside of bed with the right arm underneath the blanket. He was pulseless and non-breathing. He was transferred to Martin Luther King Hospital where he died. The date of death is 8/09/99 at 2329 hours.

EVIDENCE OF INJURY:

The gunshot wounds are arbitrarily numbered for the convenience of the Examiner and do not indicate a sequence of injury.