Community service for deputy who accidentally shot his wife

EPHRATA — A Grant County deputy who accidentally shot his wife over the summer will be doing community service in lieu of jail time.

Jose Rivera, 29, entered a guilty plea in Grant County Superior Court on Monday to one count of reckless endangerment. Per a plea agreement between prosecutors with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, which was prosecuting the case at the request of the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office, and the defense, Judge John Antosz sentenced Rivera to 364 days of jail confinement, with 356 days suspended and the remaining eight days converted to 48 hours of community service. As a part of the plea agreement, Rivera will be doing presentations in the community about gun safety and his experience.

When he was initially charged Rivera was facing two counts of third-degree assault in addition to the reckless endangerment charge. The two assault charges were dropped in the plea agreement.

Rivera, who had about five years of law enforcement experience at the time, was “dry-firing” a Springfield XD 9mm gun on the night of the shooting on Aug. 9, 2017. On Monday Antosz questioned the defense and prosecution about the act of dry-firing a weapon inside of a home. A former law enforcement officer himself, defense attorney Ken Chadwick explained dry-firing a weapon is a regular occurrence for police officers and he himself dry-fired weapons on countless occasions when he was a cop.

Rivera pointed the weapon at his wife Sydney as he was testing out the laser on the weapon, however, and accidentally shot her. The bullet struck Sydney’s right arm and lodged in her chest. Since the shooting Sydney has undergone several surgeries, but she was present at Jose’s plea/sentencing hearing in Ephrata on Monday. Both Jose and Sydney have told police investigators, lawyers and even Antosz on Monday that the shooting was accidental and not done with malicious intent.

“He did not have a reason or explanation for pointing the gun at his wife. He said he had not pointed a gun at her prior to this. Jose stated there are no issues between them and they were not having any arguments. He repeated several times that it was not his intention to hurt his wife,” reads a report on the shooting.

The investigative report on the shooting lists the following possible contributors to the incident:

Sleep: The Riveras had a 4-month-old baby at the time and Jose had worked a 16-hour call with the Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team (TRT) in the 24 hours before the incident. Jose and Sydney both said Jose had about four hours of sleep.

TRT: Court documents indicate Rivera was new to the TRT, actively tried to improve his skills and frequently dry-fired his weapon at home.

New equipment: Jose purchased the new Springfield four days before the shooting and a new holster he had ordered for the gun arrived the day of the incident.

Firearms safety: Investigators, and Jose himself, admitted he failed to follow proper firearms safety rules and neither he nor his wife attempted to make any excuses as to why he pointed the weapon at her.

Rivera has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting and will not lose his right to possess firearms.