OMAHA - The man who was shot to death early Monday by an Omaha police officer had been firing a carbon-dioxide-powered pellet gun that investigators said looked like a semiautomatic weapon.
Officer Jason M. Messerschmidt fired "about seven shots" at a man in his mid-20s shortly after 1 a.m. outside the Guaca Maya restaurant and nightclub, Police Chief Alex Hayes said.
The man with the pellet gun, Abel Barrera-Siguenza, 22, of Omaha, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officer Jacob Bettin, a police spokesman, said Monday night that Hayes wanted to send his condolences to the Barrera-Siguenza family. Bettin said Hayes considered the shooting a tragic event that will have an effect on the victim's family, the officers and those who witnessed the shooting.
Messerschmidt, 32, and Officer Johnny Palermo Jr., 34, were off duty and working as uniformed security guards for the restaurant and nightclub at the time. Both men have been placed on administrative leave during the Police Department's investigation.
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A grand jury will also investigate the death, as required by state law. It is the second fatal shooting by an Omaha police officer this year.
Hayes said "a black semi automatic look-alike pellet gun" was found next to Barrera-Siguenza's body. "Witnesses and the officers at the scene said it looked and sounded like a real gun," Hayes said.
He said investigators were working to interview about 200 people who were at the restaurant and nightclub at 5002 S. 33rd St. at closing time.
What is known, Hayes said, is that a woman told Messerschmidt and Palermo that two men in a car double-parked on 33rd Street were causing problems and might be armed.
The officers approached the men, placed them in handcuffs and began to search the car for weapons. No weapons were found.
The officers said that during the search, they heard a disturbance in the parking lot and saw a dark-colored car hit several other vehicles as it raced out of the lot.
The car turned the corner and headed north on 33rd Street, toward the officers. The officers saw a man running behind the car, firing a weapon at it.
"The officers yelled at the suspect chasing the car to stop, but he did not," Hayes said. Messerschmidt "then fired and killed him."
Hayes said he did not know where or exactly how many times the man was shot. An autopsy was performed Monday evening.
"We still have a lot of people to interview," Hayes said. "Obviously we want to talk to the people in that dark-colored car to find out what happened there."
Police on Monday were still looking for the car and its occupants.
Hayes said he did not know of any previous occasion when Messerschmidt fired his weapon.
Messerschmidt has been with the department since Aug. 16, 2004, and is currently assigned to the felony assault squad. He was a Missouri Valley, Iowa, police officer from December 2000 through August 2004.
Palermo has been with the Omaha Police Department since Sept. 23, 2002, and is assigned to the special victims unit.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the homicide unit at 402-444-5656 or Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP.