Jarvis case: AG’s report cites confusion among police but says shooting was justified
Related article:
N.H. trooper, suspect shot during warrant service
By Kristen Senz
The Union Leader
CHARLESTOWN, N.H. — Two police officers who shot Anthony Jarvis 15 times in his camper last month were legally justified in using deadly force, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said in a preliminary report that details the confusion and miscommunication that occurred just before the shooting.
Jarvis, 53, fired between eight and 16 rounds from a 9 mm Ruger pistol at the two officers who entered his camper, hitting State Trooper Philip Gaiser in the right thigh, lower leg and finger. Jarvis, who suffered two fatal wounds from Gaiser’s .45-caliber gun, refused to come out of his camper while the Western New Hampshire Special Operations Unit, state and local police, and Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway were executing a search warrant July 26 at 60 Summer St. in Charlestown. The search warrant gave police permission to search the home and outbuildings for Jarvis’ son, 26-year-old Jesse Jarvis, a white supremacist gang leader, and another woman, Desiree Wright, who was wanted on a forgery charge.
Wright and the younger Jarvis were in custody when Hathaway -- who had learned from other officers and from Wright that Anthony Jarvis might have a gun -- told Springfield Police Chief Tim Julian, the SWAT team commander, to get Anthony Jarvis out of the camper and arrest him for obstructing government operations.
When the shooting occurred, some, but not all, of the officers at the scene were aware that Anthony Jarvis, a convicted felon, might have a gun inside the camper, and there was confusion about “the specific legal basis and purpose for entry into Anthony Jarvis’s camper,” investigators said.
The investigative report revealed that Julian, who became commander of the SWAT team about four months ago, made the decision to forcibly enter Anthony Jarvis’ camper without having ever seen the contents of the search warrant and without knowing that Anthony Jarvis was a convicted felon who possibly had a gun.
“He assumed the warrant was for Jesse Jarvis and perhaps for a gun that Jesse had possibly taken,” investigators said. "€¦He decided to enter the camper because the police were there to execute a search warrant of the house and outbuildings and they could not do so safely while Anthony Jarvis remained a threat.”
Julian did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.
Radio trouble
Some police officers at the scene learned that Anthony Jarvis might have a gun and spread the word to others, but because their radios weren’t working properly, they had to yell across a field on the property. Somehow, Julian and Gaiser didn’t find out that Anthony Jarvis might have a gun until they found themselves in the middle of a firefight, they told investigators. Gaiser initially thought the mission should have been over when Jesse Jarvis and Wright were arrested. “He thought the purpose of the search warrant had been accomplished and the police could leave the area,” the report said.
As Julian formulated a plan to have Gaiser enter the camper with a Taser, Jarvis was alternating between calmness and bouts of belligerent shouting.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he yelled to police from inside the camper. He also threatened to kill a police dog if it were sent into the camper and said he would not surrender “without a fight,” according to investigators. Postmortem toxicology tests measured his blood-alcohol content at .354 percent.
Julian asked Gaiser to enter the camper first because of his experience with a tactical explosive device known as a “flashbang,” used with the purpose of throwing Anthony Jarvis off guard prior to entry. Hathaway, the county attorney, said he was not aware of the specific tactics Julian planned to use to carry out the mission.
When the device exploded, Gaiser entered with his Taser drawn and Julian close behind. He believed he was walking into a “non-lethal” situation, investigators said.
“Immediately upon entering, Trooper Gaiser saw a muzzle flash and felt a bullet pass close by his head,” investigators wrote. “Trooper Gaiser fired his Taser and, at the same moment, was fired on again by Anthony Jarvis. A bullet struck Trooper Gaiser in the upper right thigh and he fell to the floor. Trooper Gaiser was subsequently hit in the finger and right leg by additional gunfire as he was attempting to gain cover. The trooper then positioned his body in a corner of the camper in an attempt to take cover from Anthony Jarvis’ repeated gunfire. Once he realized that he had been shot and that the shooting continued, Trooper Gaiser took out his firearm and returned fire.”
The trooper fired his gun 16 times. At some point, he yelled that he had been shot, at which time Julian stormed into the camper and fired at least three shots from his .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle at Jarvis.
When the shooting stopped, police found a 9 mm Ruger pistol with an attached laser scope at Jarvis’ feet. They also found four fully loaded magazines for the Ruger near his body.
Unanswered questions
Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said investigators are still transcribing witness statements and plan to release a more thorough, final report in a few months. The final report will include statements from neighbors and relatives who were at the scene, she said, but unless new information comes to light, the determination that the officers were justified in shooting Jarvis will stand.
Hathaway said he believes the decision to attempt to apprehend Anthony Jarvis that night was the right one, even though things didn’t go smoothly.
“Obviously in any operation you can do certain things better,” he said. “Communication, in this instance, it would appear, could have been better.”
The Jarvis family gathered with their attorney, Robert Morgan, in Claremont last night to discuss the attorney general’s preliminary report.
“So far, they don’t have a reaction,” Morgan said in a telephone interview. “It’s a preliminary report, and they don’t have the actual report, and they have a number of questions that haven’t been answered.”
Morgan said the family is waiting for more information before they even consider a civil lawsuit against the state.
Hathaway said he expects the SWAT team, as well as the Police Standards and Training Council, will carefully review the incident and try to learn from it.
“Nobody can be happy with the circumstances that result in the injury of a law enforcement officer and the death of a suspect,” he said, “and we will always look at these circumstances with a critical eye in the hope of making decisions better and doing things better, but ultimately, it was a critical decision that was made by Mr. Jarvis, and I don’t think anyone should lose sight of the fact that Trooper Gaiser, when he entered the camper, he did so with a Taser, not with the intent of taking a life.”
The 12-member Police Standards and Training Council plans to conduct a full review of the incident.
Copyright 2008 The Union Leader