‘Human error’ to blame for failed psych evaluation of Virginia deputy who killed California family

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By Erin B. Logan, Summer Lin and Grace Toohey Los Angeles Times

ABINGDON, Virginia. Virginia State Police are now blaming human error for hiring Austin Lee Edwards, the cop who killed the grandparents and mother of a 15-year-old California girl he caught online.

Human error resulted in an incomplete database query during Edwards’ hiring process, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a press release Wednesday.

The statement amounts to admitting the agency should have been aware of a 2016 incident, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, in which Edwards was held for psychiatric evaluation after threatening to kill him. his father and himself. According to an Abingdon police report obtained by The Times through a public records request, Edwards was taken into custody after cutting his hand and emergency medical technicians had to call the police for the help hold it.

Paramedics, accompanied by police, transported Edwards to a local hospital, where he was held under an emergency custody order. Later that same day, a judge approved a remand order and Edwards was transferred to a local mental institution.

Edwards’ father told police he did not know why his son had harmed himself but said it could be linked to issues with his then-girlfriend, according to the police report .

In a statement to The Times, Geller said Virginia State Police would not hire any officer candidate they knew had been detained under an emergency custody order and an order. temporary detention.

Future soldiers are required to disclose their interactions with law enforcement even if they have not been arrested. But Edwards never disclosed the 2016 incident, Geller said.

The Abingdon Police report, which is a public record, details the 2016 violent incident and refers to both the emergency custody order and the temporary detention order. Virginia State Police did not say whether the police report should have been presented during Edwards’ background check.

Geller declined to comment on the specific circumstances surrounding Edwards’ custody and detention orders, saying the law prohibits the department from discussing confidential records, though those records were made public Tuesday by a Washington County judge in response to a query filed by The Times.

Riverside Police say Edwards, 28, posed as a 17-year-old while communicating with the girl online. In November he crossed the country to his home in Riverside and killed his family before setting the house on fire and leaving with the girl.

San Bernardino County officials first said Edwards was killed in a shootout with police after officers stopped his car. But the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said last week that Edwards died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The teenager was not injured.

Geller said the department believes the failure was isolated and is taking steps to ensure the error doesn’t happen again in the future. She also said Edwards returned all of his state-owned gear, including his service weapons, on the last day of his employment.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, where Edwards worked briefly after leaving the Virginia State Police, did not respond to a request for comment.

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2022 Los Angeles Times. Go to latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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