Police on Thursday released the names of two officers involved in the Oct. 28 fatal shooting of a man in northwest Fresno.
Officers Eric Claiborne and Scott Payn played roles in the shooting of John Cooper, 38, who pointed at the officers what appeared to be a gun but turned out to be a replica. It was the department's sixth fatal shooting this year.
Claiborne is a 15-year veteran of the department and Payn has been with the department for 10 years.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Cooper made 911 calls earlier that day in which he threatened to "shoot the first cop I see," then called the Police Department and said he said he wanted to kill himself. The Fresno County Coroner's Office said this week that Cooper had toxic levels of methamphetamine in his blood.
In February, Payn was one of two officers involved in the videotaped beating of a homeless man in Fresno. Attorneys for the man, 53-year-old old Glen Beaty, have filed a lawsuit against the police department.
In a related development, the coroner's office said Thursday that a man who was fatally shot Oct. 27 by a Fresno police sergeant had a moderate level of PCP in his system.
Steven Anthony Vargas, 32, of Fresno was shot after he crashed an SUV into a parked car along McKinley Avenue. Vargas was unarmed. Witnesses had said they thought he had a gun and appeared intoxicated.
PCP, or phencyclidine, is a stimulant that can cause seizures, agitation and combativeness, said Jeff Gentry, a deputy coroner.
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