
DATE: Wednesday, June 18, 1997              TAG: 9706180542

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   73 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * A story Wednesday about Virginia Beach police shootings said that Bruce Quagliato was shot approximately 60 times. Sixty shots were fired but police have not said how many of the shots hit Quagliato. Also, the same story should have stated that three investigations are already being conducted into another fatal shooting on Sunday. Correction published in The Virginian-Pilot, Thursday, June 19, 1997, page A2. * BEACH POLICE SHOOTINGS RISE; REASON IS UNCLEAR SUSPECTS SEEM TO BE CHALLENGING POLICE MORE, PROMPTING DEFENSIVE ACTION.

At least seven private citizens have been shot by city police during the last 18 months, a total that has even police admitting that such incidents are on the increase.

``We are having more now than in the past,'' said Mike Carey, spokesman for the Virginia Beach Police Department. ``We are having individuals who are challenging officers and have no respect for authority.''

The most recent shooting occurred Sunday when 19-year-old Bryan E. Dugan of the 600 block of Chancery Square was fatally shot when he lunged with knives at officers, police said.

It was the second fatal shooting by Virginia Beach police this year. On March 25, Bruce Quagliato, 28, was shot approximately 60 times by police officers after a long police chase and then failing to heed orders to get out of his car. Instead, Quagliato reportedly tried to run over police officers with his vehicle.

Three investigations are likely to be conducted into Sunday's incident, Carey said. All three are standard any time a police officer is involved in a fatal shooting, Carey said.

Two are conducted within the Police Department, Carey said, by the homicide division and by the professional standards office, formerly known as internal affairs. The third will be conducted by the commonwealth's attorney's office.

Both officers involved in the incident are young. One is a rookie and the other has less than two years of experience as a police officer. Carey said there has been no indication that either officer did anything wrong.

Dugan, stepson of a police officer, apparently yelled at the officers to shoot him, according to witnesses at the scene. He was shot ``multiple times,'' Carey said.

Carey said the reasons for the increase in Virginia Beach police shootings are unclear.

``We don't know if it is a lack of respect for officers as a whole or if it indicates that people are challenging individual police officers,'' Carey said. ``We do know it often happens in volatile situations when people are not at their best or thinking clearly. Sometimes alcohol is involved.''

Last year there were five shootings involving police officers:

On Aug. 12, Shawnta L. Ward, 20, was wounded by police during a traffic stop. Ward had a long record of arrests on suspicion of committing other crimes and was a suspect in a string of Virginia Beach burglaries.

On July 21, Michael R. Mitchem was shot after he stole an FBI van and led police on a car chase.

On Feb. 27, Jason W. Scruggs was shot during an armed standoff with police.

On Feb. 24, Sammy Gary, 20, a suspect in two murders, was shot by police in a store parking lot after he fired at police.

On Jan. 31, Edward Carolina, 42, was shot and killed after he fired at an officer during an attempted robbery.

In all but one of the 1996 instances, the officers were being threatened by armed men.

``Officers are challenged on a daily basis, but rarely to the degree that we have been seeing recently,'' Carey said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Police spokesman Mike Carey says there seems to be no police

wrongdoing in the most recent shooting. KEYWORDS: SHOOTING VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT

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