Police launch investigation after shooting

Marisa O’Neil

Police on Wednesday identified a Costa Mesa resident with a long

criminal history as the man shot and killed by officers Tuesday

inside a Fashion Island bank.

Paul K. Acierno, 35, was shot and killed by Newport Beach Police

after he allegedly pointed a gun at them inside the lobby of the

Washington Mutual Bank at 551 Newport Center Drive at about 4:15 p.m.

Tuesday, Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

Acierno had an “extensive” criminal record, including two arrest

warrants, Shulman said.

The warrants, issued by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, were

for stalking and for firing a weapon into the air in a public place,

Shulman said. They were issued in December 2003, he said.

Police are investigating Tuesday’s incident to see if one or both

of the uniformed officers at the bank fired at Acierno.

Both will be on administrative leave for three days, Shulman said.

Newport Beach Police will investigate the shooting, as will

investigators from the Orange County district attorney’s office,

which is routine in such cases.

It is the 32nd investigation this year into an officer-involved

shooting or death of an arrestee while in police custody in Orange

County, said Ed Contreras, a supervising investigator for the

district attorney’s office. It also investigated 32 incidents in

2003, he said.

“The protocol in the county is that the Orange County district

attorney’s office is the independent agency that comes in to conduct

an independent investigation,” he said.

Investigators’ concern is whether the officer or officers acted

responsibly, taking into consideration the circumstances, he said.

The Police Department will investigate any other aspects of the

case.

“Our concern is whether they were justified in the shooting,”

Contreras said.

The shooting happened Tuesday after bank employees called police

when Acierno was trying to negotiate a financial transaction and

became argumentative, Shulman said.

Acierno may have been trying to pass a forged check, Shulman said.

Two officers showed up at the bank, and Acierno refused to

cooperate, then pulled out a handgun, Shulman said.

Acierno was shot several times and died hours later of his wounds

at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Police found two handguns at the scene, Shulman said.

Bank employees declined to comment on the incident.

Customers and employees were inside the bank at the time of the

shooting, but no one was injured, Shulman said.