He got out toting a 12-gauge shotgun, walked to a grassy area and turned the weapon on himself.
Knowing that officers from his department would be dispatched to the scene, Gunn had left two notes in the truck.
One asked that the vehicle not be impounded but instead released to his family.
The other said: "This is absolutely work related."
Gunn's suicide in October was the most visible sign of the troubles that over the last year have beset the once sleepy Burbank Police Department. Officers have accused colleagues of taking part in bloody beatings, stealing an internal affairs file and acting out of deeply entrenched racial bias.
Gunn was one of several Burbank officers who are subjects of an FBI investigation into allegations of excessive force, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the probe.
Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing several cases involving use of force against suspects and have subpoenaed the department's files relating to two cases. In both, booking photos show bruised or bloody suspects, but the arrest reports provide explanations for the injuries. Investigators are trying to determine whether improper force was used and whether the arrest reports were falsified, according to the sources.
Some city officials and police officers say that excessive force was a problem in the department but that it was limited to a small number of cops
At first, "everybody was on board with that," said one veteran officer. "It was to get killercop." But after a time, that aggressive style became the norm for some, several officers said.
According to court papers, officers were taunted by white cops, passed over for promotions, denied backup and, in one case, threatened by a fellow cop at gunpoint.
What's really ailing the department, these officers say, is years of nepotism and cronyism.
He "felt like the fix was in," she said, "that it didn't matter what he said."
scott.glover@latimes.com
andrew.blankstein @latimes.com
















