Police kill rescued man
SAN DIEGO – A man from Los Angeles was shot dead by San Diego Harbor Police after they plucked him out of San Diego Bay and he reportedly fought with officers and tried to grab an officer's pistol, authorities said.
An autopsy likely will be conducted today on 37-year-old Steven Paul Hirschfield, who was rescued by the police officers he then allegedly attacked in the bay west of the downtown Embarcadero area.
Harbor Police Lt. Ken Franke said a charter boat in the bay reported a man overboard about 11:10 p.m. Saturday, and Harbor Police officers in a boat fished Hirschfield out of the bay about 500 feet south of the Coast Guard Air Station on North Harbor Drive.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the cruise boat was on a "gay pride day" excursion.
Once aboard the police boat, Hirschfield fought with the two officers, Franke said.
The rescued man knocked one officer to the deck, injuring him, then took his Taser stun gun and hit him in the face with it, Franke said.
Hirschfield then tried to take the officer's handgun, the police officer said.
The other officer shot Hirschfield once in the upper body, Franke said.
Paramedics met the Harbor Police boat at the Embarcadero and declared Hirschfield dead, he said. The injured officer was taken to a Sharp HealthCare hospital with face and leg injuries, he said.
San Diego Police, Harbor Police and investigators with the County District Attorney's Office will investigate the officer-involved shooting.
An autopsy on Hirschfield's body will probably take place today, an investigator with the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.