Harbor Police Department Releases Names of Officers Involved in Shooting

Monday, 21 July 2008
Contact: John Gilmore (619) 686-7206

The Harbor Police Department has identified the two officers involved in a fatal shooting Saturday night.

They are Clyde Williams, a 20-year veteran with the Harbor Police Department and the officer who fired his handgun, and Wayne Schmidt, the officer who was injured. He has been with the department 5 1/2 years.

The Harbor Police Department was notified shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, July 19, 2008, that a man went overboard during a harbor excursion cruise. The two officers found the man, identified by the Medical Examiner's Office as Steven Paul Hirschfield, 37, in San Diego Bay, about 500 feet south of the Coast Guard Air Station.

After boarding the Harbor Police vessel, Hirshchfield began fighting with the officers. During the scuffle, the man grabbed an officer's taser and began hitting the officer in the face.

The man then tried to get the officer's service handgun and the other officer fired a round to stop the assault against the officer. The police vessel took the man to a nearby dock on the Embarcadero where paramedics pronounced him dead.

Officer Schmidt was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries to his face and leg and released Sunday Morning.

The two officers have been placed on paid, administrative leave while an investigation is conducted by San Diego police and the District Attorney's Office.