Original Article Cops kill subject of domestic violence call Jim Johnston By Becky Pallack ARIZONA DAILY STAR In the middle of the night, a usually quiet and loving family faced a suddenly volatile situation. Miguel Angel Kovrig, 40, was drunk, angry and violent, his daughter quietly told a 911 dispatcher. He had slapped her mother and then left the house. When he returned, neighbors told police he was waving a handgun and making threats to hurt his family. Minutes later, he was dead, killed by two Tucson Police Department officers who said he wouldn't obey their commands to put down the weapon. The shooting, in the 700 block of West Harlan Street, near South 12th Avenue and West Los Reales Road, marked the fourth time this year that a Tucson Police officer has fatally shot someone, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, an agency spokesman. It was the third related to domestic violence. Department officials are reviewing the case but say it was a dangerous situation that seemed to escalate with their presence. Officers focused on making the situation safer had to use deadly force, they said. For the Kovrig family, it is the second violent death in a year's time. It was just Saturday when the family gathered to say a rosary on the anniversary of the killing of Kovrig's nephew. They are again left with a question that may not have an answer: Why did this have to happen? Family fight ends in death Miguel Kovrig worked hard in his business. He was proud to own his own dump truck and liked to take hauling jobs and other handyman work. When Martha Kovrig saw that her husband was drunk and angry around 2:30 a.m., she told her 13-year-old daughter to call police, she said. Miguel Kovrig had slapped her face, she said. The girl told police her father was drinking and arguing with her mother, but Robinson said someone took the phone away from her. By the time police called back, Miguel Kovrig had left the home and Martha Kovrig felt like she had control of the situation, she said. A dispatcher called to ask if she was OK and said an officer would come by to check on her when time allowed. An hour later, police received a second call from a neighbor, who said Kovrig had returned home and was in the street waving a gun. The caller told police that Kovrig had threatened to shoot his family if anyone called the authorities, Robinson said. In front of the house, three police officers confronted the armed man and ordered him to drop the gun, commanding him in English and in Spanish, Robinson said. Kovrig's wife and 18-year-old son were yelling that the gun was not loaded and that the fighting should stop, Kovrig said. But when Kovrig refused to put down the gun, two officers fired, fatally wounding Kovrig. He died at the scene. The officers are Jim Johnston, 33, a seven-year Tucson Police Department veteran, and Jeff Stover, 35, an 11-year veteran. They will be on paid leave until the department and prosecutors review the case, as is standard in officer-involved shootings. Domestic violence calls stressful This was the third time this year that a man has been shot to death by police following a domestic violence situation. Domestic violence calls are very stressful for victims, suspects and police officers, Robinson said. "They're very dangerous calls for the officers," he said. "They respond with the utmost caution." Domestic violence charges mean mandatory jail time, with no police discretion, he said. "The officers' main concern is to immediately secure the scene by de-escalating the violence and seeking medical treatment for anybody that's been injured, and then working to help people in these situations resolve their problems," Robinson said. The Kovrigs, who were married for 23 years, liked to laugh and have a good time, Martha Kovrig said. "He was a wonderful husband and a good dad except for the moments when he was drunk," she said. "He was so angry." On Saturday, the couple attended a rosary for their nephew, Johnny Urquidez, who was shot to death in September 2004 when he was caught in a gunfight between his friend and another young man. The whole family gathered again Thursday to support Martha and her children, and to mourn the loss of Miguel Kovrig. "He had a heart of gold," said Maria Kovrig, Miguel Kovrig's sister and Urquidez's mother. "We're all shocked." She said police could have come up with another way to handle the family fight, but Robinson said other options are not appropriate for confronting a violent person armed with a gun. The family is considering burying Kovrig next to Urquidez at the South Lawn Cemetery, Maria Kovrig said. "I just hope that something positive comes out of this and they take some action against the officers that did this," she said. Robinson said it has been hard on the officers involved and the detectives investigating the case, too. Police knew the family only in a short time charged with stress and violence. It's impossible for officers, he said, to know "the love and family life they've known for more than 20 years." 10 shootings by officers in '05 There have been 10 officer-involved shootings this year, including the four fatal shootings. By this time last year, there had been eight shootings, including two fatalities. The total number of officer-involved shootings last year was 11, including four fatalities. One of the officers involved in the shooting Thursday has been disciplined several times throughout his 11 years at the Tucson Police Department. Stover, who joined the police force in June 1994, was fired in 1996 after a grand jury indicted him on felony aggravated assault charges in a case in which Stover kicked and punched a restrained man during an arrest on the South Side following a high-speed chase. Stover pleaded not guilty to the aggravated assault charge and the criminal case was dismissed. It was unclear Thursday how and when he returned to the force. Contact reporter Becky Pallack at 629-9412 or at bpallack@azstarnet.com.