Police were justified in shooting Newport man, D.A.’s office finds

Two Newport Beach police officers were justified when they shot and wounded a man who opened fire on them at a beachside condo last year, the Orange County district attorney’s office concluded.

A letter from investigators released Friday outlines what it calls “overwhelming evidence” that officers Michelle Kent and Adam Gilbert made a reasonable choice when they fired on Scott Abraham, 43, who survived his injuries and later pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assault with a firearm.

Kent and Gilbert were among a team of officers who responded to Abraham’s home the night of July 11, 2014, after a report of gunshots, according to the district attorney’s office.

The letter describes the incident starting with a neighbor watching Abraham shoot into the air from his patio in the 4600 block of Seashore Drive.

“Abraham announced, ‘Here’s one (bam), here’s two (bam),’ as he fired two shots from the handgun toward the beach,” Deputy District Attorney Erin Rowe wrote.

When officers arrived and set up a perimeter around the home, they saw Abraham again walk onto his patio, according to Rowe.

Police repeatedly yelled at Abraham to “drop it,” but he refused and instead paced frantically, talked to himself and stared straight up or at the beach, according to the letter.

The report describes Abraham as “very agitated” and “talking gibberish” before he fired four to eight shots toward officers and the beach.

From behind the cover of a police car, Gilbert fired one shotgun round at Abraham’s chest, and Kent fired two rounds from an AR-15 rifle, Rowe wrote.

The letter says police quickly took Abraham into custody and recovered a handgun before paramedics took him to a hospital. Abraham recovered from his injuries.

Both officers who fired told investigators they feared Abraham would keep firing and harm or kill an officer or a bystander, according to the report.

The report also outlines previous police run-ins with Abraham.

A month before the shooting, Abraham had been held for a mental evaluation because of concerns that he was a danger to himself or others, Rowe wrote. Officers also confiscated firearms and marijuana from his home, according to the letter.

Just hours before the shooting, police were called when Abraham allegedly threatened a neighbor with a screwdriver and shouted that he was “president of the United States.”

After Abraham pleaded guilty to the assault charges on April 6, an Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced him to 240 days in jail and five years of supervised probation.

He’s also prohibited from owning any weapons and must receive psychological treatment as laid out by authorities, according to the letter.