San Diego

Three sheriff’s deputies have been cleared of wrongdoing in the nonfatal shooting of a security guard at a construction company May 6.

An investigation by the San Diego district attorney’s office found that the three deputies were justified in firing 32 rounds from their revolvers at Kenneth Butterfield after he threatened and began shooting at them.

Butterfield was shot once in the head and “numerous” times elsewhere but survived, according to the investigation report. Charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon are pending against him.

The deputies, David Myers, Genaro Guerrero and E.M. Tuatagaloa, were called to the Cass Construction Co. yard in East San Diego by a neighboring businessman who said a man with a gun was threatening him.

When they arrived, they saw a man sitting inside a red car inside the construction company yard. A .357 Magnum revolver and a partly consumed bottle of vodka later were found in the car.

The report said the deputies “identified themselves and requested that (the suspect) exit his vehicle. Instead the suspect chose to fire his weapon in the direction of one of the deputies.” This was sufficient justification for the officers returning the fire, the report said.