SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - We're learning more about the man who police say fired the shot that killed Officer Jeremy Henwood, as his mother comes forward to apologize for her son's actions.
Police shot and killed 23-year-old Dejon White outside his City Heights apartment, not far from where Officer Henwood was shot. Officers found a two-page suicide note inside his second-floor apartment on 48th Street. They're not releasing details from it.
"I just want to apologize to the two other families and I'm sad that this happened," mother Tamica Berason said.
Berason says her son was very calm just hours before as he watered her front lawn and washed a car. She says he didn't show any signs of depression and has no idea where he got the shotgun he used to shoot and kill Officer Henwood, and seriously injure El Cajon resident Martin Hana.
"He was always laughing and joking, and loved to write poetry. He did a lot of reading. He enjoyed being with the kids, he'd always pick my son up from baskeball practice, his little brother. He did a lot," Bareson said.
According to court documents, Dejon White's criminal history dates back five years to September 2006 when he pleaded guilty to stealing a $2,700 TV from a University Avenue retail store where he worked. He was sentenced to three years formal probation and ordered not to possess a firearm.
On August 4, 2010, he was arrested for resisting an officer and jaywalking. White pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and received no probation. On October 8, 2010, he was arrested for resisting an officer again, but that was dismissed. Also, he was taken into custody for reckless driving and pleaded guilty. He got three years summary probation, which he was still on at the time of the shooting.
Last November, a misdemeanor petty theft charge was reduced to an infraction in February. He received no probation, but was ordered to stay away from 5400 El Cajon Boulevard. Just last Friday, an arrest warrant was issued for not paying a public transportation fare. His bail was set at $1,156.
Dejon White had been employed by the San Diego Urban Corps doing various jobs to get his life back on track. The organization's staff was getting concerned because he had not shown up for work as a recycler at Petco Park.
"There was no indication that he had any anger or other issues," San Diego Urban Corps CEO Sam Duran said. "Dejon was a good worker and had worked with us a short time and looked like he was getting his life online and was enrolling in City College and had finished high school. We never had any problems with him."
Regarding her son's suicide note, Dejon White's mother says she's hoping to read it once the investigation is completed. She says hopefully it will shed more light on what caused this tragedy.
