A former Whittier police officer who fired four shots at a fleeing suspect , hitting him twice in the back and leaving him paralyzed, had only 21 seconds to assess the situation and reasonably believed the suspect was turning toward him to shoot him when he fired, his defense attorney said in closing arguments of his trial Friday, Nov. 14.

Salvador Murillo, 44, a 15-year veteran of the Whittier Police Department at the time of the April 30, 2020 officer-involved shooting, faces two counts each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and assault under color of authority for shooting Nicholas Carrillo, who was unarmed as he ran from police following a traffic stop in an Uptown Whittier alley.

The shooting occurred in an alley south of Walnut Avenue, between Comstock and Greenleaf avenu

See Full Page