A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy is being investigated for shooting an Air Force security officer

Lance Pugmire:

Friends and family of the San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who opened fire on an Air Force security officer in a video-recorded shooting described the deputy Thursday as level-headed and "by-the-book."

Deputy Ivory John Webb, a standout football player at Carson High School who also played for the University of Iowa, entered law enforcement in the long shadow of his father, a respected former police chief in Compton.

"He very much admired his father — how his father was perceived and respected in the community, and how he was a great dad," said Keith Chappelle of DeSoto, Texas, longtime friend and former Iowa teammate of Webb. "He wanted to be just like his dad."

Webb, 45, now finds himself in the spotlight after shooting Senior Airman Elio Carrion, a passenger in a car involved in a high-speed chase in Chino on Sunday night.

The shooting was recorded by a witness and has been broadcast repeatedly by television news stations. The raw graphic images have come under intense public scrutiny, and Webb's actions have been harshly criticized by experts in the use of force by police.

Webb has been placed on paid administrative leave as a result of the shooting. Carrion, 21, remains hospitalized in good condition.

Sheriff's officials said Thursday that Webb had spent more than 10 years in the department, serving as a jailer at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and, most recently, as a patrolman based in the sheriff's Chino Hills station. Webb's only promotion came in 2001, and he has not received any of the department's most common awards, officials said. They declined to elaborate on Webb's service record.

The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff's homicide division, and the FBI is reviewing the case to determine if any civil rights violations occurred.

In the digital recording, the deputy at one point appears to tell Carrion, who is sprawled on the street and appears cooperative, to "stay on the ground." Seconds later, the deputy appears to tell Carrion to "get up, get up." When the airman begins to rise, Webb fires three times.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said some of the dialogue was difficult to understand, and cautioned that some crucial evidence may be obscured. The FBI has been asked to enhance the recording, she said.

Webb's former neighbors and teammates, many of whom said they had seen the video on television, were surprised to learn that he was the deputy involved.

"You've got to be joking," said Dexter Winans of Los Angeles, Webb's former Carson High School teammate.

"Ivory Webb was one of the straightest guys I've ever known — don't drink, don't smoke, nothing but a straight square … a good kid who listened to his dad. I would never anticipate that would be him."

At the home of Webb's father, a woman who identified herself only as Webb's stepmother described the deputy as a "wonderful person, a wonderful young man.''

"Most people who know him feel the same way I do," she said, declining to say more.

Former colleagues of Webb's father, who was Compton's police chief from 1986 to 1990, described the elder Webb as a self-made man who was book-smart and rarely spoke about his family on the job.

Raised in Compton, the elder Ivory Webb was among the first African Americans on the city's police force, joining in 1963 at a time when the force remained overwhelmingly white. Within a decade, the city's demographics had shifted dramatically. After 27 years with the department, Webb took an early retirement in 1990 during a city cost-cutting move.

Deputy Cleared in Fatal Shooting

Justice sought after shooting

Deputy who shot airman in Chino felt threatened, his father says

Man Who Taped Airman Shooting Arrested