Toxicology reports are back in for four recent high profile police shootings. CBS47 has learned exclusively that in three out of the four cases the suspect was high on methamphetamine at the time of the shooting.
In the fourth case, the suspect had nearly four times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
There have been seven police shootings in Fresno County this year. That’s about one a month.
And five of the seven people killed in those shootings were high on meth at the time.
From the first officer involved shooting of the year in Fresno County in February to one last week in Orange Cove, the majority of the suspects were using meth.
“I think the public needs to be aware of this because these people are acting irrationally not only with police but when they're in their cars and with the rest of us,” said Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Hadden.
Dr. Hadden has dealt with all of these deaths.
Four of them occurred in the city of Fresno.
“There are very few cases where our officers are involved in a shooting where the suspect is not under the influence of methamphetamine,” said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.
That was the case last month when 27-year-old Pedro Alanis was shot and killed by Fresno police. He led officers on a chase, then hit a car with a mother and daughter inside, and tried to speed off. Alanis tested positive for meth.
“Officers were trying their very best to stop this individual from driving away in a three thousand pound vehicle while he was high on what they thought to be methamphetamine which is now known to be true,” Dyer said.
One exception: the officer involved shooting in Sanger.
The toxicology report on 46 year old Charles Salinas showed a blood alcohol level of point-3... Nearly four times the legal limit.
Salinas told a 9-1-1 dispatcher he'd been drinking.
