This looks like yet another unnecessary police killing
When will it end? This seems like yet another senseless killing of an unarmed man, a homeless man. With so many police officers around, was lethal force the only option?
According to the LA Times police offered the following ‘detailed account’.
Cmdr. Andrew Smith said officers assigned to the LAPD’s Central Division and Safer Cities Initiative — a task force focused on skid row — responded to the location about noon Sunday after receiving a 911 call reporting a possible robbery.
Smith said the officers approached the suspect and made contact with the man, at which point he “began fighting and physically resisting the officers.” The officers attempted to take him into custody and at one point, attempted to use a Taser that Smith said was “ineffective.”
The man continued to resist police, Smith said, and the man and some of the officers fell to the ground.
“At some point in there, a struggle over one of the officer’s weapons occurred,” Smith said. “At that point an officer-involved shooting happened.”
Two officers and a sergeant fired at the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Smith said. It was unclear how many times the officers fired, although at least five shots can be heard on the video recording that captured the shooting.
No other gun was recovered at the scene, Smith said. It was unclear if the man had any other weapons among his possessions — investigators were still combing the scene late Sunday night.
The real questions that should be asked are simple. With the overwhelming and obvious police presence, why did the incident elevate so rapidly? Why do the cops act so panicky?
It seems police are very quick to draw guns and use lethal force on some. On others, they try their best to defuse the situation.