MARCH 15, 2019
11
MORGAN HILL TIMES
Students compete in MATHCOUNTS MURPHY WINS TEAM CONTEST FOR THIRD YEAR IN ROW Staff report
in the Coyote Valley Chapter this year. Approximately 40,000 middle school students in grades 6-8 from all over the U.S. and its territories compete every year in the Chapter Competitions. The highest-scoring students move on to the state competition. The Northern California State Competition will be held at Stanford University March 23. Students from Ascencion Solorsano Middle School in Gilroy, Britton Middle School, Charter School of Morgan Hill, Jackson Academy of Math and Music, Martin Murphy Middle School, Monte Vista Christian School and Oakwood School had been training for the chapter competition since September in an after-school program run by the American Institute of Mathematics in cooperation with the MHUSD. For more information about AIM’s free afterschool math enrichment
Special to the Times
Students from seven local schools competed Feb. 9 in a Coyote Valley MATHCOUNTS chapter competition at Oakwood School, with 10 of them qualifying for the regionals at Stanford later this year. Eighth-grader Ethan Fang from Martin Murphy Middle School came in first place in the chapter competition, followed by eighth-grader Bryce Mankovsky from Jackson School of Math and Music in second place. Aaron Tran and Aadhavan Magesh, both eight- graders from Martin Murphy, came in third and fourth place, respectively. Murphy also won the
team competition for the third year in a row. The top two school teams earned a ticket to the Northern California MATHCOUNTS State Competition. The Murphy team members are Ethan Fang, Andrew Nguyen, Roma Shah and Aaron Tran. Oakwood came in second place, winning a tiebreaker over Charter School of Morgan Hill in the highly competitive field. Shrihan Dash, Daniel Lelescu, Lee Stilwell and Ayana Wilmot comprised the Oakwood team. These eight students have been invited to compete at the state level, where they will be joined by Bryce Mankovsky and Aadhavan Magesh. MATHCOUNTS is a National Middle School coaching and competitive mathematics program that promotes math achievement through a series of fun and engaging contests. There were 45 students competing
MATH WHIZZES A group picture of the Morgan Hill MATHCOUNTS competitors and coaches. program, please visit the Morgan Hill Math website at morganhillmath.org. The top 12 students also competed in the Countdown Round, a Jeopardy style, head-to-head
contest where two students compete to answer math questions the fastest. Ethan Fang brought home the first-place trophy, and his brother, Greyson Fang, came in second. Henry
McNamara came in third and Roma Shah finished in fourth. The Countdown Round was moderated by Dr. Brian Conrey, Director of the American Institute of Mathematics.
Chief: MHPD ‘regretful’ for teen’s injury ➝ Shooting, 1
A bullet fragment bounced off the ground and struck one of the teens in the area of her right eye. This fragment was broken into two small pieces when an MHPD officer retrieved the evidence from Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, where the girl was transported and treated. The metallic fragments had been removed from her eyelid at the hospital. The injured teen is identified only as 14-year-old “M. Doe” in the DA’s report. The girl was released from the hospital the next day, according to the DA’s report. Welch described her injury as a “slight injury” in a brief interview with this newspaper earlier this week. A photo of the teen, taken shortly after she was admitted at Stanford Hospital in April 2018, shows her right eye was swollen shut. The photo is included in the DA’s investigation report. The other female passenger of the stolen van, a 15-year-old, and the driver were also treated for minor injuries—likely resulting from the collision that concluded the high-speed chase—at a nearby hospital. The male driver surrendered after crashing the van, and he was arrested on suspicion of evading police and
possession of a stolen vehicle, according to the DA’s report. The investigation by DA Jeff Rosen’s office relied on individual officers’ written reports of the incident, interviews with some of the officers, Norman’s body camera footage, statements from the teens and other witnesses, a crime lab analysis of Norman’s firearm and bullet fragments that struck the girl, as well as other physical evidence. MHPD officers began gathering evidence and documenting the scene the same evening Norman reported the accidental discharge, the DA’s report describes. In Welch’s legal analysis of the incident, he determined that Norman “appropriately approached this vehicle stop as highrisk” with his firearm drawn. Investigators determined the shooting was indeed accidental. While M. Doe and the other female teen passenger of the van, identified as “Z. Doe,” told investigators that Norman “pushed” or “slammed” M. Doe to the ground before the firearm discharged, the DA’s report said this use of force by Norman was “reasonable.” “The physical contact was…to gain her swift compliance to the command to get on the ground,” the DA’s report says.
“The fact that the firearm discharged and caused injury to M. Doe was an unfortunate accident that does not expose Sgt. Norman to criminal liability,” the DA’s report concludes. Norman has been a police officer for 23 years. He has been a Morgan Hill officer since 2005, and was promoted to sergeant in 2008, the DA’s report reads. He currently serves as the department’s public information officer, in addition to his regular patrol and supervisory responsibilities. Norman declined to comment on the April 2018 incident or the DA’s conclusion. Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing said, “When any accident or unintentional act occurs that results in injury, we clearly are regretful for what happened. We certainly are grateful that the teenager’s injuries were not more severe.” Swing added that the department conducted an internal administrative review of the April 2018 incident, with the help of an outside firm. Swing declined to specify the results of that review, including any disciplinary decisions, but said MHPD will be implementing some of the firm’s recommendations.
The chief added that Norman is “an integral part of our team,” and he is “highly regarded in our department and in our community.” “I have full faith and confidence in his abilities, as I do each and everyone else in our department, and that’s an unwavering statement of confidence,” Swing continued. The DA’s 27-page report of the events culminating in the accidental shooting describes a tense, volatile situation that started with M. Doe’s parents reporting the teen missing April 28, 2018. She and Z. Doe had apparently left a birthday party at Guglielmo Winery that evening to hang out with a group of teens they knew. About 2pm April 29, Officer Sara Alanis investigated a report of a burglary and stolen van at Live Oak High School on East Main Avenue, reads the DA’s report. Someone had broken into a building on campus and stolen the van keys before taking off with the vehicle. Over the next few hours, officers learned that the two teen girls reported missing were riding around in the stolen van with the 15-yearold male and two other juvenile females, according to the DA’s report. The 15-year-old male had
recently been involved in a burglary in which a firearm was stolen, according to authorities. Police Cpl. Scott Martin saw the van traveling southbound on Butterfield Boulevard near Jarvis Drive about 7:20pm, and attempted to make a traffic stop, according to the DA’s office. The driver refused to stop, leading Martin and other officers on a high-speed chase across to the west side of town, and north up Del Monte Avenue. The van repeatedly ran stop signs and red lights, and ignored obstructions in the roadway in the driver’s effort to evade police, authorities said. Martin used a PIT collision technique to force the van to lose control in the area of Llagas Road and Del Monte Avenue. By that time, Norman and other officers were chasing the van. Norman had begun his shift as watch commander just before 6pm April 29. The van spun around due to the PIT technique, and the driver tried to accelerate toward Norman’s patrol vehicle. But the driver lost control again and crashed into the light pole and fire hydrant. That was when officers and patrol cars surrounded the van and crash scene. The DA’s report describes
David Swing the surprise exhibited by Norman and other officers when they learned he had accidentally discharged his firearm. When Martin heard the firearm go off at the scene, he “looked at Sgt. Norman’s face and saw that he appeared to have been startled by the gunshot,” reads the report. Norman stated in surprise, “Jesus Christ,” after the firearm discharged, according to the DA’s description of Norman’s body camera footage of the incident. Both officers then checked for injuries on themselves and the teens. M. Doe was the only person injured by the gunshot. The body camera footage was not released with the DA’s report, and Swing said the department is not planning to release the video. The DA’s office investigates all officer-involved shootings that result in injury or death, including accidents, in Santa Clara County.
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