By Kevin Valine
The Modesto Bee
SONORA, Calif. — Officials have released more details of the Nov. 22 gunbattles downtown between an armed parolee and a police officer and two sheriff’s deputies that left the parolee dead and the officer and a bystander wounded.
The details are shocking.
Video from a camera mounted inside a Sonora police car shows 29-year-old Bruce Thomas Snyder — who was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon — getting out of his 1972 El Camino and firing on Officer Ryan Webb. Webb had stopped Snyder in front of the Mi Pueblo Restaurant and Bar about 10:10 p.m. that Saturday.
Webb stepped out of his car and returned fire. Authorities say he left the safety of his car so he could return fire and not put bystanders at risk. After the two exchanged gunfire, Snyder got back into his El Camino and drove off, leading Webb on a 3.7-mile pursuit on Washington Street to Highway 108 and then onto Stockton Street and back to downtown, where Snyder died in the second gunbattle.
“A cop pulled over an El Camino and a guy got out and started shooting at a cop, like 10 rounds at least,” a 911 caller reported to authorities. This excerpt from the call was among the information released by officials during a Monday news conference at the Tuolumne County Administration Center.
This also was the first time authorities have identified Webb and Tuolumne County sheriff’s deputies Jerry McCaig and Scott Meyer as the officers who exchanged gunfire with Snyder. They had been placed on leave while their departments conducted administrative reviews. They returned to work last week after the reviews cleared them.
The Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office also is reviewing the shooting.
Snyder shot Webb in his duty belt in the first gunfight. The bullet then struck but did not penetrate Webb’s right hip, leaving a deep bruise. A woman also was struck by a bullet. Authorities said preliminary results from the state Department of Justice show the bullet came from Snyder’s gun. Webb and the woman were treated at Sonora Regional Medical Center.
Snyder’s mother, who was not at the news conference, again expressed her family’s anguish that Snyder had put others at risk and forced the officers to kill him. “They didn’t want to do what they had to do,” Susan Hrdlicka said.
The Initial Call
Webb stopped Snyder shortly after someone in an Orchard Avenue home called 911 to report that Snyder had shown up demanding to see his former girlfriend and that he had threatened people with a handgun. Webb was on his way to the home when he spotted Snyder in his El Camino and attempted to pull him over.
Sheriff Jim Mele said Snyder had a blood-alcohol level of 0.25 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
As Webb pursued Snyder after the first gunbattle, deputies McCaig and Meyer joined the pursuit on Washington Street. The chase ended with Snyder stopping for a second time in front of Mi Pueblo.
Mele said Snyder got out of his El Camino and with his gun in hand advanced upon McCaig. Authorities said Webb fired upon Snyder and then McCaig and Meyer fired their guns. Snyder also fired his gun but was hit and fell to the street.
Officers called for medical help, but it took them five minutes to secure the scene before paramedics could treat Snyder and Webb. Officers feared Snyder had led them into an ambush because he ended the pursuit in the same location as the first gunbattle.
The gunbattles and the pursuit took all of about six minutes and were over by 10:16 p.m. Webb, McCaig and Meyer fired their guns about 55 times, with 14 of their bullets striking Snyder.
Mele said the Department of Justice is determining how many times Snyder shot his .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun. He said one of the difficulties is that the bullets used by Snyder and the officers were similar.
Snyder’s gun holds 11 bullets, and authorities believe he reloaded during the pursuit because he swerved at times and did not reach high speeds. Authorities found two bullets in the gun. Mele said Webb’s and McCaig’s patrol cars were struck three times each and authorities found a bullet hole in Webb’s pant leg.
Ready For A Gunfight
Mele said Snyder acquired the Smith & Wesson about a year ago. He said Snyder told people close to him that he would shoot at officers before being sent back to prison.
Hrdlicka said her son acquired the handgun shortly after he was arrested in December 2013 on a drug charge. She said her son had two painkillers on him but they were not in their prescription bottles. She said it also was around this time that he wrote two letters and gave them to a friend.
One was addressed to the friend and the other to Hrdlicka. Snyder’s instructions were that upon his death, his friend could open his letter and give the other letter to Hrdlicka. She said that in the letter to her, her son expressed his love for her, that his struggles were over and he was in a better place.
Hrdlicka emphasized that her son was more than his criminal record and that he was a hard worker and kind and generous with friends. But she said it can be difficult for people to turn their lives around if they have a record. She said he had grown frustrated by the obstacles he faced.
“I just think he wanted to be dead,” she said. “He wanted it to be over. ... I really think this was a suicide by cop.”
Copyright 2014 The Modesto Bee