Officer given one-week suspension after investigation into teen's shooting death at his home

TPD officer gets 1-week suspension after teen’s shooting

Gloria Gomez reports

TAMPA, Fla. - The investigation into Bradley Hulett's death is now officially closed. Seven months after the 15-year-old was shot and killed inside a Tampa police officer's home, we're learning the consequences faced by the officer.

Tampa police officer Edwin Perez received a one-week suspension for not properly storing his weapon, according to an internal affairs report obtained by FOX 13 News.

Bradley Hulett's father, Brad Hulett, says he is satisfied with the investigation, but the punishment will never be enough.

"Obviously, we don't think a week is enough to replace our son, but given the confines and the constraints that the chief [of police] had, this is probably going to be considered a pretty heavy-handed disciplinary measure within the police force," said Hulett.

The discipline was handed down seven months after Bradley's death. Officer Perez was not home at the time the teen was killed. His son and two other boys were there when Bradley was shot.

Court records show that on the day of the shooting, Perez's son picked the lock to the master bedroom and saw his father's gun. He wanted to show it to Bradley so he removed it from the holster and took the gun into his bedroom.

Officer Perez's attorney, Rick Escobar, says his client made it a habit to always remove the clip from the weapon and lock his bedroom.

"When my client was removing the clip he may have not removed the bullet from the chamber, although his procedure was to remove both of them all the time," Escobar said.

But Hulett's attorney, Anthony Rickman, says that wasn't enough.

"Under TPD policy, all reasonable measures had to be taken and that wasn't simply putting the gun behind the door that a child could open. It wasn't simply removing the clip. We know there was a round in that chamber and, as a result of that round being in the chamber, Bradley was killed," said Rickman.

The teenage shooter, Christopher Bevan, has been charged with manslaughter.

Perez and his son have been cleared of any legal wrongdoing, but not in Brad Hulett's eyes.

"I have a whole different opinion as to whether or not [Perez] should have been arrested from the beginning this doesn't change any of that," said Hulett.

Hulett also believes Florida's gun storage laws are ineffective.

PDF: Read the internal affairs report here: