Wounded Harbor Officer Sticks by Account of Shooting

VENTURA —  A deputy harbor master who earlier this month reported that he was wounded during an ambush by three mysterious assailants said Tuesday that he had been questioned by police about inconsistencies in his account.

David Shapiro, 59, returned to work Monday, less than three weeks after the March 5 incident.

Officials with the Ventura Police Department said they have not been able to locate any witnesses. They would not say whether they had any leads or suspects.

Department officials would not confirm having questioned Shapiro about inconsistencies in his account, saying only that the investigation is continuing and that they had two detectives working on the case.

“We are still investigating all aspects of the event,” Det. Gary McCaskill said.

Shapiro said he thought the police had also questioned him about his story because they had learned about a similar incident in December 1976 in Farmington, Mich. In that case, Shapiro was also shot during a struggle and there were no witnesses.

However, on Tuesday, Shapiro stuck by his account of both incidents.

In the Ventura case, he reported being hit four times--all by bullets fired from a .25-caliber handgun. He took at least one direct hit to the center of the armor-covered breastplate of his bulletproof vest that left a large bruise.

One bullet went through his thigh, another went through his right side just below his underarm.

A fourth shot grazed his upper left shoulder.

He was briefly hospitalized the night of the shooting, but was at home the next morning. Shapiro told police that he was ambushed about 8:20 p.m. by three gunmen as he tried to board their dark-colored inflatable motorboat at the mouth of Ventura Harbor.

He said he wrestled with the men, two in their 20s and the third in his 40s.

He told investigators that he kicked one of the men in the face and that one of the men shot him during the struggle, with all three escaping in the powerboat. Shapiro later speculated that the men might have been drug dealers.

The Ventura Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department launched an all-out search for the suspects that night, but found no trace of them.

Shapiro said police investigators returned to him a few days after the incident to “clear up some inconsistencies.”

“I made a couple of mistakes in what I had said,” Shapiro said Tuesday, shortly after receiving a free bulletproof vest from a local uniform supply store.

“You got to understand, I had been up for almost 30 hours and had just got back from the hospital.”

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Shapiro said the police questioned him because they wanted to “clear up a few loose ends.”

According to an account of the 1976 Michigan incident from The Farmington Forum weekly newspaper, Shapiro was shot four times by two men who were trying to rob a store at which he worked.

Shapiro told police he was jumped by the two men about 12:30 a.m., just after locking up the business, Tom’s Party Store.

“Two masked assailants approached him from behind, put a gun to his back and ordered him to ‘put your hands up,’ ” the newspaper account said. “A struggle immediately ensued and the subject carrying the gun shot Shapiro four times. Two shots struck the victim in the left hand and two in the right side.”

According to authorities in Michigan, Shapiro was shot with a small-caliber handgun, possibly a .22-caliber pistol, the newspaper said.

The Forum also reported that he told authorities he was able to kick one of his assailants in the mouth, knocking off his ski mask and inflicting “serious injury.” Farmington police officials said they could not confirm whether anyone had been arrested or prosecuted in the case. Shapiro said he did not know either.

Shapiro confirmed the newspaper account Tuesday, but said that he had been shot twice, not four times. And he said the Ventura police had questioned him about that incident.

“Apparently they don’t like coincidences,” he said.

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Shapiro, who said he has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years, said he was also recognized for heroism while working as a jail guard for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department in Phoenix.

In November 1986, Shapiro said, he foiled an attempted escape from the county jail.

“Again, I think they thought it was a coincidence,” Shapiro said, referring to investigators’ reactions when they learned about the incident in Arizona. He said he was awarded a medal for bravery and heroism for foiling the escape.

Maricopa County officials could not confirm that account.

Shapiro worked for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department until February 1987 and then moved to a job at the Santa Barbara County Jail, where he worked until February 1991.

He has worked for the Ventura Harbor District since leaving Santa Barbara and is scheduled to retire at the end of the month, although he said he plans to continue working part time for the district.

The eight deputy harbor masters at the Ventura Harbor are all sworn peace officers, but they do not carry guns and receive only the most basic police training. The deputies are armed only with pepper spray, officials said.

Most of the work done by the deputies consists of enforcing boating regulations and helping in water rescues.

Officials at the Ventura Harbor District said after Shapiro’s shooting that the incident was highly unusual. The worst trouble deputies had seen in the last 17 years were shoving matches with people who had had too much to drink.

The deputies all have bulletproof vests that were given to the district as hand-me-downs from the Ventura Police Department.

Shapiro said he does not always wear his bulletproof vest.

But, he added, “I’ve generally worn a vest . . . at night when I was alone on patrol.”

He said the only lingering problem he has from the shooting is some swelling in his thigh.