‘Horrendous shooting’: Expert says Leavenworth police shooting among worst he’s seen
A former Leavenworth police officer who shot and killed a man in 2017 had no reason to believe he was in danger and needed to fire his weapon, according to a law enforcement expert who reviewed recently released body camera video of the shooting.
William Terrill, a criminal justice and criminology professor at Arizona State University, reviewed the video for The Star. He said, without a doubt that there was no way a threat existed.
“I don’t see how there’s any justification,” Terrill said. Terrill served as a military police officer early on in his career, has acted as an expert witness and consultant for law enforcement, and was on the sub-committee to President Barack Obama’s 2015 Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
“It looks like a horrendous shooting. It’s as bad as I’ve seen in my career.”
The Leavenworth Police Department released over two hours of body and dashboard camera footage on Friday after a trial for Matthew Harrington, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting, ended in a mistrial earlier in the week. A Leavenworth jury was unable to reach a verdict.
In the video, Harrington encounters 47-year-old Antonio Garcia in the driveway of a house where he’s been called to investigate a domestic dispute. As Garcia tries to back out of the driveway, Harrington fires multiple shots into the side of the car.
There was nothing that occurred that should have made Harrington stop Garcia from leaving, Terrill said.
“He says (in the video) he thinks it’s a civil complaint, which is indicating right there that he doesn’t believe it’s a crime,” Terrill said. “So if he doesn’t believe it’s a crime, why is he trying to stop the the driver from from pulling away?”
Terrill said there is often an overemphasis on danger and police safety during trainings, which can prompt officers to act like their lives are at risk when they are not.
“The officer obviously got to the point where he was shooting into the vehicle multiple times for someone that had — at best — a pocket knife with the door closed and wasn’t threatening the officer,” Terrill said.
A Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent testified as an expert witness in earlier court proceedings that Harrington should have stepped away from the situation and called for backup instead of opening fire. The agent testified that Garcia did not pose a threat to Harrington.
Harrington was terminated from the department in January 2018 for violating the department’s use of deadly force policy.
The shooting
Harrington was called to investigate a domestic dispute involving a stolen vehicle at Garcia’s home in the 1700 block of Rose Street. Family members were reportedly having an argument at the house.
Garcia encountered Harrington after returning to the home. In the video, Harrington is seen walking up to Garcia as he is parked in the driveway in the SUV.
Prosecutors have said Garcia had a knife in his lap but did not threaten Harrington. In the audio, Harrington was heard saying “Put that knife away” as Garcia shut the door and the two men struggled.
Harrington fired several gunshots into the SUV as he backed away.
The shooting happened 32 seconds after Harrington first approached Garcia, according to earlier testimony.
Harrington’s body camera shows Garcia’s wife, Heather Garcia, rush out to the SUV after the shots were fired.
“I’m a nurse,” she yells after Harrington tells her to get back. “He’s dead.”
A couple minutes later, she is escorted away from the vehicle by other officers who had arrived at the scene.
In the dash cam recording, Heather Garcia is heard saying she has been handcuffed.
“I just saw him shoot my husband in the head,” she says.
“This is not right.”
In the body camera video, Harrington tells another officer, “I don’t wanna be here, man.”
The officer escorts him to a patrol vehicle. “I hope he’s not dead, man,” Harrington said.
“I hope he’s not dead. I just didn’t want to get hit.” The other officer starts asking Harrington about his trip to Alaska.
Several minutes later, Harrington says, “Man, I wish that never had’ve happened.”
Later he asks, “Why’s this gotta happen to me?”
Another officer then escorts Harrington to a different patrol vehicle to go to the police station and the video ends.
Releasing the video
The video of the incident was not publicly released during the four years of the criminal case. Only after the mistrial, when a judge ruled the video footage of the incident should be released did it become public — roughly five years after the shooting.
In Terrill’s view, videos like this should be released sooner when possible.
“It should be clear to everyone in the police department that this was a bad shooting. And when they fail to acknowledge that I think it holds the profession back.”
In a statement after the mistrial, Leavenworth Police Chief Pat Kitchens said the events that led to Garcia’s death were a tragedy for all involved and the community at large. He noted the investigation led by his agency alongside the KBI led to their conclusion that Harrington’s actions were outside the bounds of reasonable use of force.
“We support the process of adjudicating these matters in a court of law where our Criminal Justice system can evaluate the facts and render a decision,” Kitchens said. “We believe the jury made a reasonable and fair effort to render that decision but could not reach a unanimous verdict which is required.”
Harrington’s defense attorneys filed a motion late Thursday arguing its release would be “inappropriate” and “make it harder to empanel enough prospective jurors who have no previous knowledge of the specific facts of the case.”
The Star filed a motion to intervene saying the public has a right to view the recordings.
“It is apparent the video is subject to varying interpretations, which is precisely why members of the public should be allowed to view the recording themselves and reach their own conclusion about what the recording shows,” attorney Bernard Rhodes wrote. “That is the essence of an ordered democracy, in which an informed public can decide for themselves matters of public interest.”
Garcia’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Leavenworth alleging wrongful death and violation of his civil rights. It settled for $1 million in 2019.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 10:55 AM with the headline "‘Horrendous shooting’: Expert says Leavenworth police shooting among worst he’s seen."
