San Antonio Express-NewsTwo sides of teen emergeSoon after authorities Monday publicly identified Derek Lopez as the student killed last week by a school district police officer, two starkly different portraits of the boy emerged: one repeatedly in trouble, the other loving and family-oriented.By Eva Ruth Moravec and Michelle Mondo
Published 09:58 p.m., Monday, November 15, 2010Soon after authorities Monday publicly identified Derek Lopez as the student killed last week by a school district police officer, two starkly different portraits of the boy emerged: one repeatedly in trouble, the other loving and family-oriented.
Lopez, 14, was shot to death Friday afternoon when he burst out of a shed where he was hiding and hit the officer in the face with the door in a yard on the far West Side, San Antonio police said.
Northside Independent School District Police Officer Daniel Alvarado, 40, was on paid administrative leave while the San Antonio Police Department investigates.
The teen's family said they have unanswered questions about why deadly force was needed against an unarmed teen. Lopez's mother, Denys Lopez Moreno, 35, cried as she talked about her son, saying he didn't deserve to die.
Family members said SAPD officers who told them about the death Friday wouldn't give them details and that the medical examiner's office also rebuffed their attempts to get information until Monday.
An aunt, Mishel Lopez-Renteria, 36, said the lack of information and Lopez's death was not only wearing on his mother but the whole family.
Alvarado, a 16-year NISD police veteran, is the first Northside officer to be involved in a shooting in the department's 25-year history, district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said.
"Not only is this a tragedy for the Northside police officer who fired his gun, but this is a huge tragedy for that family, and we're sympathetic to their feelings and their circumstances," Gonzalez said.
Alvarado was driving on Hunt Lane in a marked patrol car Friday when he saw Lopez and another boy fighting at a bus stop outside the Northside Alternative High School at Santa Fe Ridge, Gonzalez said.
Both Lopez, who weighed 160 pounds and stood 5 feet 9 inches tall, and the other boy attended Bexar County's Juvenile Justice Academy and had been dropped off by an academy bus, officials said.
Witnesses told police that Lopez struck the other boy in the face with the back of his hand. Alvarado tried to detain the teen, who ran across the street and into the Trails of Santa Fe neighborhood, a police report states.
Shortly afterward, a homeowner in the 200 block of Roswell Canyon called 911 to report a possible burglary in progress when she spotted Lopez in her backyard, police said.
Alvarado searched the fenced-in yard but couldn't find the boy until he approached a storage shed on the side of the house.
He announced, "Police, police," several times before peering into the shed, where he saw Lopez crouching on the ground, according to the report. Lopez lunged through the shed's door, intentionally knocking it in Alvarado's face, the report said.
Alvarado, "fearing for his life," fired once and the bullet struck Lopez in the chest, the report said. The officer then conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation until EMS arrived, police said.
Gonzalez said the SAPD investigation may be reviewed by the district attorney's office. If warranted, disciplinary action against the officer will then be taken, he said.
All 90 NISD officers must be certified Texas peace officers, Gonzalez said, and must respond to calls anywhere in their jurisdiction, which encompasses all the district's 355 square miles. Alvarado, like the department's other patrol officers, wasn't assigned to a particular school.
Alvarado's service record contains no complaints, Gonzalez said, and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education show his peace officer's license has never been suspended or revoked.
Before he joined the Northside force in 1994, Alvarado spent 10 months working for the Leon Valley Police Department.
It was not clear if Alvarado was already familiar with Lopez, whose history of trouble at school began at age 9, according to officials.
Lopez was expelled from elementary school in April 2006, Gonzalez said, and spent the next few years in and out of alternative schools, traditional campuses and the county's juvenile academy. He had been disciplined for persistent misbehavior including possession and distribution of drugs, assault, theft and using profanity, Gonzalez said.
In September, he was expelled from Pease Middle School when he was arrested on a felony charge of graffiti on school property, according to David Reilly, Bexar County's chief probation officer. He was again sent to the juvenile justice center, officials said.
Lopez's aunt disputed the charge of distributing drugs, saying he was caught with a pill. She didn't know what kind. She said the family wanted to fight the charge but didn't have the money.
Family members said Lopez could talk back and did have trouble with a few other teens, but he wasn't a drug dealer, gang member or thug.
One of four siblings, he played baseball and basketball, took his younger cousins to the park to play on the swings and loved to help his grandmother cook, they said.
After reading Internet comments connected to previous stories and watching the news, the family said they do not know the boy being described.
"They're talking about my sister's son, my nephew, like he's a monster," Lopez-Renteria said.
The family said Lopez's older brother and a cousin had to be pulled out of school Monday because of the constant questions from their peers about the shooting.
"It's been very hard for them," said Patricia Jimenez, 45, another aunt.
Staff Writer Jennifer Lloyd contributed to this report.© 2011 Hearst Communications Inc
