Thursday, June 5, 2014

HMB teenager shot by deputy


San Jose Mercury News/Crime and Courts/Erin Ivie, 6/4/14.  "Half Moon Bay woman, 18, fatally shot by deputy after lunging at him with knife, authorities say." 

HALF MOON BAY: Teen fatally shot by deputy gallery
18 year old teen treated for depression,
stopped taking her medications.
She lunged at the deputy with a knife, dead
"HALF MOON BAY -- An 18-year-old woman was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy Tuesday night after she lunged at him with a knife as he encountered her in the street, authorities said.The woman, identified as Yanira Serrano-Garcia, of Half Moon Bay, was shot and killed by sheriff's deputy Menh Trieu, with whom she got "in a confrontation" about 9:23 p.m., San Mateo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Rosenblatt said. 

....  "I don't know why they couldn't have done better things instead of getting a bullet through her and trying to shoot her," said Saul Miramontes, Serrano-Garcia's cousin. "She was kind of sick -- you know, at least they could have Tasered her or at least tackled her.

Family mourns
Yanira's home with parents
The incident marked the second officer-involved shooting in San Mateo County this year, making 2014 the first year since 2006 with more than one officer-involved shooting. The last officer-involved shooting occurred March 18 in Pacifica, when 34-year-old Errol Chang, who was also mentally ill and armed with a knife, was shot and killed by a Daly City SWAT officer."  Read article, includes Channel 7 video, comments from her cousin 42 seconds.

Related article- Half Moon Bay Review/Staff, 6/4/14.  "The incident occurred around 9:23 p.m., after a family member called 911 for medical help. As deputies began heading toward the home, the call quickly escalated in severity. In less than a minute, dispatchers were warning deputies the situation was a “5150” – a welfare code designating a dangerous person with a mental disorder. A short time later, deputies were warned the woman had a knife. .... Residents in the area said Serrano had a mental disability and was prescribed medication. Sheriff's officials say this was not the first time they had been called out because she had exhibited violent behavior. Serrano had a tendency to walk or ride a scooter around the neighborhood, sometimes speaking to herself, neighbors say. She previously went to El Granada Elementary and Cunha Intermediate schools, and later continued taking classes at a special education school, according to a neighbor and classmate who asked not to be named.

Related article - KTVU, channel 2, and Wires/Alex Savidge, 6/4/14.  "Deputies responded to a report of a violent female subject possibly armed at the Moonridge Housing Complex on Miramontes Point Road east of state Highway 1 around 9:20 p.m., San Mateo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Rosenblatt said. Relatives said the 18-year-old woman's family called 911 because she wasn't taking her medication.  Her aunt told KTVU the young woman, who family identified as 18-year-old Yanira Serrano-Garcia, suffered from depression. A deputy who arrived at the scene and confronted the woman feared for his life and shot at her, Rosenblatt said.

Note photographs from articles above:  Yanira Serrano-Garcia from KTVU;  Yanira's home from Half Moon Bay Review.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm no Doctor but if she was commonly seen talking to herself she had much more than just depression. A history of violent behavior. Too bad the family couldn't get her help before this tragic ending.