[HPN] Electric mobility

[William Tinker]

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/20000216-0010_3m16miller.html
FWD  San Diego Union-Tribune / February 16, 2000

LOW-KEY MEMORIAL HELD AT SHELTER FOR MAN KILLED BY POLICE LAST WEEK

By Janine Zúñiga  
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO -- About a dozen people gathered last night at the St. Vincent de
Paul Village chapel to remember William Anthony Miller Jr., a transient who
was killed during a recent confrontation with police.

Miller, a 42-year-old homeless man, often had eaten lunch at the downtown
shelter.

"We pray for William, his family and all of those involved in this tragic
loss," said the Rev. Gil Gentile, who led the services. "We also pray for
the police officers involved and their families. I'm sure they are all in
pain as well. We pray they are in God's peace."

The 40-minute memorial service in the facility's small, white chapel
included Bible readings and ended with the singing of "Amazing Grace."

Miller was fatally shot Feb. 9 in Point Loma Heights during an altercation
with five officers who responded to a report of a man assaulting people
with a tree branch.

Three of the five officers fired a total of nine rounds, hitting Miller
seven times. He died 90 minutes later. Police said he ignored orders to
drop the branch, which they said was sharpened on both ends, and lunged at
them.

Officials at the downtown shelter said they did not want last night's
"low-key, respectful remembrance of Miller" to include any protest of the
circumstances of his death.

Community outrage over the third fatal police shooting this year, however,
has prompted calls for a review of the San Diego Police Department's policy
on the use of deadly force.

Saturday, about 20 people carrying signs shouted anti-police slogans in
front of the San Diego Police Department's new central division
headquarters at 25th Street and Imperial Avenue.

They were protesting the police shootings of Miller, former professional
football player Demetrius DuBose and others. They demanded grand jury
investigations into the deaths and called for creation of an elected
civilian review board."

Before the service, Gentile said he has performed "countless memorials for
people like William" so they are not forgotten.

"He had eaten lunch here on many occasions," he said. "We noticed a lot of
our people were touched by his death. We like to respond in a prayerful
kind of way."

Gentile said the last gathering on the subject of Miller's death turned
into a "shouting match. That's not what we're about. We do this for all of
the people who have been a part of St. Vincent de Paul Village."

Miller's father, William Anthony Miller Sr., said last night that his
family had a private viewing of his son's body yesterday and attended a
Mass at the mortuary.

He said he had planned to attend last night's memorial at the shelter, but
that would have been "too much."

Last week, Miller said his youngest son had drifted in and out of his
family's life for the past 15 years. They last saw him about a year ago,
and by last October they had lost touch.

Miller spent many of his last days at the corner of Sports Arena Boulevard
and Midway Drive, and moved about between downtown San Diego and the Midway
District.

Early this year, police were called to the Midway District after Miller,
who was "ranting and raving," threatened to burn down a strip mall. He was
taken to a county mental health facility but was soon released.

David Saffell, 51, of San Diego, who attended the memorial, said he met
Miller when he, Saffell, first arrived in San Diego in 1984. He called him
a "religious fanatic" who would have liked the memorial.

"He was my first real close friend," Saffell said. "I was running the
street, and he was, too. He was always quoting Scriptures. We both knew the
Bible well. We hung out. We were close."

END FORWARD

**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.**

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