Officer-Involved Shooting, Neighbor: Police Did What They Had To
By: Caroline Tucker
Updated: January 30, 2013
We're learning more about an officer involved shooting in downtown Rochester Tuesday.
It happened as police and a court marshall were serving an eviction notice at the Volunteers of America apartments on State Street.
Four officers are now out of the hospital but the suspect remains in satisfactory condition, as of 6pm Wednesday night.
"The bullet hit the top part of my table and stopped fell on floor by my tv," said Eddie Guy, who shares a wall with Timothy Powell.
Eddie Guy said he luckily wasn't in his bedroom Tuesday afternoon.
Instead, he was at his door listening to police try to evict Timothy Powell.
"They kept asking him to come out and he said no, they kept asking him to put the knife down," said Guy.
Rochester Police say Powell wrestled with an officer.
"The guy is stronger than an ox so I wouldn't have wanted to deal with him," said Guy.
Rochester Police said officers were able to get away from Powell who had the knife and call in for backup.
Guy said he heard more officers come down the third-floor hallway.
They repeated requests for Powell to come out but Rochester Police say bleach was thrown on four officers.
Two of those officers will have to see an eye specialist.
Guy also heard what he thought was a taser.
"I heard that buzzing sound but then I heard scuffling and that usually means its not working. After that maybe 5 to 10 seconds later I heard the pop, pop. I closed my door because I knew what that meant," said Guy.
12-year police veteran Antonio Gonzalez and 10-year veteran James Ott fired one round each at Powell.
Gonzalez was also involved in another officer-involved shooting in June.
"Based on his approach and based on the failure of taser to accomplish it's mission they do deploy simultaneously deadly pysical force," said Chief Jim Sheppard, Rochester Police.
Police say the shooting was justified based on the officers' training but a grand jury will have to decide.
In the meantime, the officers will be on paid administrative leave.
"I am not a fan of the cops, but I know they did everything they needed to do to keep everyone in the building safe and they gave him every opportunity in the world, you know what I am saying, I commend them on what they did," said Guy.
Powell will face charges once he is out of the hospital.
Chief Sheppard said he will face at least a charge of menacing, if not more.
The VOA could not tell News 8 how long Powell had lived in the apartment building, which is transitional housing for people who used to be homeless or have gone through rehab. The organization said they are unable to release personal information.
The VOA did say Powell was behind on his rent and had taken all of the legal steps required to evict him.
The VOA said tenants in the building pay 30-percent of their income for rent.
