By A.C. Thompson

One hollow-point bullet ripped through Cammerin Boyd's abdomen, snapping ribs, perforating his liver, popping through his pancreas, and lacerating his aorta before burying itself in a torso muscle. Nearly two liters of blood poured out of the torn artery. Another bullet – perhaps two – punched through Boyd's left thigh and left hand.

This we know from reading medical examiner's report no. 0544, a 26-page forensic study of Boyd's hole-ridden cadaver. He was shot and killed by one or more of the five San Francisco cops at the scene May 5.

The Bay Guardian recently obtained a copy of the document, which the San Francisco Police Department initially kept classified and which hasn't been reported on elsewhere.

Officers fired the fatal shots after Boyd, piloting a Chevy Trail Blazer, led officers on a chase through the Western Addition that ended when Boyd parked in front of 616 Larch Street. Numerous witnesses told the press that police fired on Boyd while the 29-year-old African American had his hands in the air in a clear attempt to surrender.

Police, noting Boyd's criminal record, sketched a very different picture, saying he was armed with a handgun and had squeezed off a couple rounds at pursuing officers after trying to kidnap a mother and child near Eddy and Laguna Streets. The official version of events didn't include the hands-in-the-air scenario.

But the medical examiner's report asserts that Boyd, a double amputee with two prosthetic legs, may indeed have been trying to surrender when the bullet tore into his stomach. "One cannot exclude that the hands were raised when the abdominal gunshot wound occurred," the autopsy reads.

However, the report, apparently referring to the abdominal damage, also states that "the gunshot wounds most probably were sustained through the opening between the open driver's door and the frame of the vehicle with the decedent facing the rear of the vehicle."

The holes in Boyd's hand and thigh, the report concludes, are likely "one contiguous gunshot" that tore into Boyd while he "was in a seated position on either the floor board or running board."

Police spokesperson Maria Oropeza wouldn't comment on the specifics of the investigation into Boyd's death. "Our department takes every case seriously, and we're not going to treat the Cammerin Boyd case any different," she said. "We are a professional department." She said police recovered a weapon from the crime scene and have run gunshot-residue tests on Boyd, but she wouldn't reveal the results of the tests or any other details.

The new document – which is vague as to whether or not Boyd was armed – will likely do little to clear up the intense speculation surrounding Boyd's death, one of 26 officer-involved shootings since 2001 that remain under investigation.

At the time of the incident, three witnesses told us Boyd was shot while trying to surrender (see "Cops vs. Community," 5/12/04), and many others were interviewed on local TV news and in the daily papers. "There were at least a dozen people who were on TV saying, 'This was murder,'" said Malaika Parker, Bay Area Police Watch's executive director. "We've spoken to four or five people at length, and nobody said what the department is saying."

Police Watch held a sparsely attended press conference Sept. 9 featuring another witness, Mario Rogers, who said, "When they shot Mr. Boyd, he was standing on Larch Way surrendering."

There are other new clues about Boyd's final moments. Toxicology screening done by the medical examiner indicates Boyd was high on methamphetamine and cannabis.

Another lead comes from Steve Olmo, the deputy public defender who represented Boyd in a felony weapons case shortly before he was killed. Prosecutors charged Boyd with assault and illegal possession of a firearm, court records indicate; he'd also been arrested on a gun charge in 1993.

The defense lawyer claims cops harassed and intimidated Boyd during the tumultuous weeks after the April 10 slaying of undercover police officer Isaac Espinoza in Bayview. Olmo took the situation seriously, making plans to have a private investigator take statements from Boyd and several of his friends. The events of May 5 intervened.

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