A gunman was killed in an officer-involved shooting in South Los Angeles, and his two companions were taken in custody after a lengthy search that required reinforcements, police said today.
“Once there’s a struggle for the gun, that really changes things,” -DA Jackie Lacey
Ezell Ford was shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officers Sharlton Warmpler and Antonio Villegas on Aug. 11, 2014. A 10-month investigation culminated in the Los Angeles Police Commission, the body that oversees the LAPD, ruling that Warmpler was “unjustified to open fire on Ford … wrong to draw his weapon, and had used unacceptable tactics” when the two officers observed Ford walking down 65th Street near Broadway in South Los Angeles, as reported by the L.A. Times.
A woman who said she witnessed an August 12 fatal officer-involved shooting in the Crenshaw District is claiming that the victim was being chased by police officers with guns drawn before the officers fired three shots. Courtyana Franklin, 21, told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday August 13, that she witnessed the shooting through a side mirror and rear window of her vehicle, which was parked in an alley near Marlton Avenue and Santo Tomas Drive.