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East County Magazine
June 9, 2017 (Campo) – Bruce Dawley, 66, a Campo resident, died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen following an altercation with law enforcement.
Deputies from the Sheriff’s Campo station responded on June 4 shortly before 11 a.m. to a home at 2516 Gladiola Drive, Campo, after a caller reporter that Dawley was suicidal and had a gun. Arriving deputies heard a single gunshot and formed a perimeter around the home. Moments later, Dawley emerged through the front door, holding a gun.
“There was a brief confrontation between the man and the deputies which culminated with one deputy firing a single round,” said Lt. Kenneth Nelson with the Sheriff’s homicide detail. Nelson says Dawley retreated back into the house.
Deputies called for the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Detail. Once on scene, they entered the home and found the occupant deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.
“It is unclear at this time if the wound was self-inflicted or as a result of the earlier confrontation with deputies,” Nelson said shortly after the body was found.
However the County Medical’s Office has since conducted an autopsy that concluded cause of death was a shotgun wound from a round fired by a deputy. The death has been ruled a homicide.
The deputy involved in this shooting has been identified as Deputy Richard Phillips. Deputy Phillips is assigned to the Campo Office and has been employed as a deputy sheriff with the San Diego Sheriff's Department for approximately 23 years, according to Captain William Donohue.
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