Suspect holding an air pistol left the officer no choice, department says.

By David Richie - Bee Staff Writer
– The EDC Sheriff’s Department released this photo to show the similarity of a Daisy Power Line 1700 BB air pistol, top, to a .40-caliber Glock handgun. EDC Sheriff’s Department

The EDC sheriff’s deputy involved in a fatal shooting Tuesday in El Dorado Hills is Damien Walters, 26, the department’s spokesman said Wednesday.

The department also released photographs of the Daisy Power Line 1700 BB air pistol that Rajan Vaid, 23, reportedly pointed at Walters before the deputy fired a single fatal shot.

Mohan Passi, a family friend of the Vaids, questioned Tuesday whether it was necessary to use deadly force to control the young man.

Lt. Kevin House, department spokesman, said Vaid gave the deputy no choice.

The Daisy Power Line looks very similar to the .40-caliber Glock handguns that most deputies carry, House said.

“There is no way you can look at this and tell the difference,” House said. “It is a handgun, and a pretty intense looking handgun at that.”

Walters joined the Sheriff’s Department in December after working as a full-time officer with California State Parks. He is a six-year law enforcement veteran, House said.

“We usually wait about three days before releasing the names of deputies involved in cases like this,” House said. “We want to get it out there so we do not get accused of covering something up.”

Walters’ name is being released with his permission and with authorization from Sheriff Jeff Neves. Walters said he does not want to talk to media about the incident, House said.

Walters was one of three deputies called to a home in the 2500 block of Highland Hills Drive about 10 a.m. Tuesday. Vaid had called dispatchers and told them that he had been drunk for four days and wanted to turn himself in, House said.

He also told dispatchers about bizarre thoughts he was having, including visions of running over the heads of children, House said. Dispatchers also talked to Vaid’s mother, who was at the house. She told them her son was out of control, House said.

According to House: When deputies got to the home, they were soon confronted by Vaid, who was holding the air pistol. Vaid retreated down an embankment in the backyard and was reportedly bringing the weapon up to a firing position when Walters fired his weapon once. Vaid fell to the ground immediately. The other deputies did not fire.

Later Tuesday, Passi said Vaid has had mental health problems and was on medication, “having good days and bad days.”

Attempts to reach the Vaid family Wednesday were not successful.

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Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 13, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3

Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A 23-year-old man, holding what a family friend described as a BB pistol, was shot and killed by an EDC sheriff’s deputy at a home in El Dorado Hills on Tuesday morning.

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Kevin House said the shooting was “unavoidable.” He said the man, Rajan Vaid, told dispatchers he had been drinking for days and was having violent visions. After deputies arrived, House said, Vaid faced them with what appeared to be a gun and assumed a shooting position.

“There is nothing requiring our deputies to take the first round,” House said. He said information on the type of weapon Vaid was holding would be released later.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Vaid’s parents and close family friends were still trying to understand the shooting. Vaid had a history of mental illness and there is concern that deputies did not use nonlethal tactics to control him, said Mohan Passi, a family friend for more than 30 years.

Passi answered the telephone at the Vaid residence and said he was authorized to speak for the family.

“His parents are in a state of shock,” Passi said.

Before the fatal confrontation, Vaid had called EDC sheriff’s dispatchers and said he had “visions of running over the heads of children,” House said.

Vaid contacted dispatchers just before 10 a.m. Tuesday.

He also told dispatchers he had been drunk for four days and wanted to turn himself in, House said.

Vaid was arrested Friday on suspicion of being drunk in public, and was released Saturday, records show.

When deputies arrived at the 4,000-square-foot home in the 2500 block of Highland Hills Drive, Vaid exhibited what appeared to be a black handgun, House said.

The young man retreated to the back part of the nearly 1-acre property, turned around and raised the weapon as if to fire at the deputies, House said.

A deputy fired one shot, killing Vaid.

House said the incident happened “very quickly.”

There was no opportunity to use a stun gun, House said, since Vaid was outside the effective range of about 20 feet.

“The guy created a situation that was unavoidable,” he said.

Vaid’s parents, Naveen and Paula Vaid, were at home when the shooting happened.

Passi said a deputy talked with the mother for several minutes before Rajan Vaid appeared from another part of the house.

“They have never had guns in the house. It was a BB gun that Rajan had in his hand,” Passi said. “He has had it since he was a little kid. That is what is causing so much shock for us.

“We are talking about a mentally disabled kid,” Passi said.

The deputy who fired the fatal round is being placed on paid administrative leave and is not being named, standard procedure for the sheriff’s office following officer-involved shootings.

House challenged Passi’s standing as a family spokesman and emphasized that investigators have interviewed the parents and a maid who was present when the incident occurred.

House said he absolutely will not “second-guess” a decision made by a deputy in the field during such a situation.

Naveen Vaid, 55, and Paula Vaid, 53, both work for Healthtech Mobile Services in El Dorado Hills, a mobile health service that offers services such as immunizations and blood tests.

Naveen Vaid is listed as executive director on the company’s Web site; Paula Vaid, a registered nurse, is listed as director of nursing.

Passi said Rajan Vaid graduated from Oak Ridge High School, then attended California State University, Sacramento, for about a year before switching to Folsom Lake College.

At that point, Passi said, it became clear the young man was having emotional problems. He said Vaid was taking medication, having “good days and bad days.”

The Highland Hills neighborhood of million-dollar, gated homes is carved into an oak hillside off Silva Valley Parkway.

On Tuesday morning, the typically placid neighborhood’s curved streets were swarming with sheriff’s deputies and staff members, including the sheriff’s crime scene investigation unit and Sheriff Jeff Neves, there to check on the welfare of his deputies.

Neighbor Ernie Boetius said the shooting is “definitely out of context for the neighborhood.”

“There’s never been any trouble that I know of at that house,” he said, describing the family as “fairly reclusive.”

The shooting marks the Sheriff’s Department’s third officer-involved shooting since late May, House said.

On May 29, a 41-year-old El Dorado Hills man was shot in the groin by a deputy trainee after the man assaulted the deputy, who was investigating a report of an assault at White Rock Village apartment complex.

On June 5, a gunfight in a residential neighborhood in Shingle Springs left a father and son dead and three deputies and a police dog with gunshot wounds.

Officer-involved shootings are investigated by a multiple-agency team that includes District Attorney’s Office investigators, as well as officers from the South Lake Tahoe and Hangtown police departments, House said.

When complete, the team’s report will be released by the district attorney, House said.

 

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