Officer ID'd in Pasadena police shooting Witness tells police suspect shot at officer

Pasadena police on Sunday identified the officer who last Thursday was involved in the fatal shooting of a suspect.

He was identified as Mark Adams, who previously was described by police as a 13-year veteran of the force. The officer has been placed on administrative leave while the department investigates the shooting of a man during a traffic stop.

Marco Antonio Saavedra, 44, was fatally shot after he "drew a weapon and pointed it at the officer," who pulled over Saavedra after he allegedly ran a stop sign on Southmore around 4 p.m., Pasadena Police spokesman Vance Mitchell said Friday.

Saavedra had a history of violence and once told his daughter he hoped "to do suicide by cop," according to court records.

The dashcam video, released late Thursday, shows Saavedra getting out of his white Nissan Altima on Spooner off Southmore.

Adams shouts, "Stay in the vehicle! Stay in the vehicle!" Saavedra shakes his head and pulls out a handgun, aiming it at the patrol car. Adams fired about eight shots.

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Saavedra walks away from the Altima and remains in view as he spins around, dangling the firearm in his hand. The officer fires again, hitting Saavedra, who falls on his back with his legs up.

In the body cam video, also released Thursday, Saavedra asks the officer, "What did I do? What did I do?" as he steps out of the Altima. Adams pulls out his gun and says, "Stay in the vehicle!" twice, and adds, "Show me your hands!"

Saavedra pulls out a gun and aims it at the officer, according to the footage. The officer then shoots about eight times and walks behind his patrol car. Saavedra is out of view at that time. The officer is then seen approaching Saavedra, who has fallen to the ground.

Mitchell said a witness told police Saavedra fired his gun at the officer, but police could not confirm that. The gun Saavedra used had been reported stolen, according to Mitchell.



Pasadena police officer Jessica Ramirez said the officer commanded the man to put his hands in the air, but he instead reached around his back, pulled a gun and "made a shooting stance," Ramirez said.

Adams, 40, is "obviously shaken up," Assistant Police Chief Josh Bruegger told reporters Thursday evening. "It appears justified to me," he said, but he noted that decision ultimately will be made by a grand jury.

Saavedra was convicted in 2012 for assaulting his wife and then was indicted for a December 2016 incident of causing bodily harm to a family member. He violated a protective order for his wife Sept. 15, 2017, and had a warrant out for that violation, according to police and court records.

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Saavedra pulled a gun and threatened to kill his wife and himself during the incident, court records show.



Their daughter, who witnessed the incident, told police that Saavedra said if officers came to the house, he wanted "to do suicide by cop."

A grand jury will determine if the shooting was justified.

The shooting marks the sixth time since 2008 that a person has been killed by a Pasadena police officer, the most recent of which came in August 2010, according to the Texas Justice Initiative's database of police killings.

Alyson Ward contributed to this report.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com, @jrgzztx

Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan.