Ex-Girlfriend Says Negotiator Ended Call With Man Shot by SWAT
Sarah Sager, the ex-girlfriend of Samuel Edgardo Rivera, who was killed by an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) SWAT member Tuesday, is alleging negotiators hung up on him before the fatal shooting.
On July 29, at 7:49 am, deputies arrived at Rivera’s residence to serve a drug possession warrant.
According to an ACSO press release, Rivera fired one shot towards deputies when they approached his room, prompting a large police response that included the SWAT team and Hostage Negotiations team.
At 10:30 am, Rivera made contact with Sager over text and called her shortly after.
Sager, who said she could hear hear a negotiator named Sarah talking to Rivera, told GnvInfo that he stated the shot was accidental and Sarah acknowledged it was a mistake.
“He wanted to come out. He asked for five minutes,” Sager said. “They said no.”
Sager provided the following statement:
“I was on the phone with him the whole time until they came in and shot him. He was trying to come out peacefully. He was afraid they were going to shoot him. The last thing I heard him say was he was scared. He said he wanted to kill himself, he was sorry and that he loved me. Then they threw in some thing and started shooting, and then my call dropped. The mediators hung up on him when he asked for just five more minutes. They rushed in and shot him up... Sammy had so much to live for and didn't deserve to die that way.”
According to ACSO's press release, they “deployed a non-lethal chemical agent irritant into the apartment, which is designed to compel a barricaded suspect to surrender.” Rivera reportedly responded by firing at deputies. Deputies deployed additional chemical canisters and ordered Rivera to drop his weapon. Soon after, a deputy radioed in that Rivera was in front of a window and “pointing a handgun at deputies,” prompting an ACSO SWAT member to fatally shoot him, the agency reports.
GnvInfo attempted to contact ACSO Public Information Officer Chris Sims for comment, but he hasn’t responded.
Sager is calling for ACSO to release all body camera footage relating to this incident, in addition to audio recordings of the negotiations. Visit the page below to demand ACSO release this information.
