Officers from Los Angeles Police Department shot a man on Sunday as according to them, he was reaching for one of the officer's gun. However, a bystander who filed the video via his mobile phone claims that he did not see the unarmed man forcibly trying to reach for the officer's gun thus the officers are being questioned.
According to CNN, the witness named Anthony Blackburn, the four officers should have shot a man in his leg instead of killing him because he was already on the ground. LAPD Chie Charlie Beck then released a statement regarding the killing of the man and defended his four officers.
Beck shares that his officers did everything to avoid killing the man but he really reached for the pistol of one officer causing him his life. He also shared that despite the bystander claiming the man did not try to grab the pistol, Beck noted that the slide was partially engaged and the magazine was dislodged making it all the more reasonable to say that there was a struggle over the weapon.
He also presented photos to show that and also shared a screen grab from a video that shows the mean reaching for the waistband of the officer where the officer's pistol was placed. Beck also added that two of the officers who were at the scene of the crime were injured because of the man's struggle but are now out of the hospital.
The man was reportedly homeless and possibly suffered from mental illness and Beck pointed out the LAPD feels great compassion for these kinds of people but this is a problem the police have to solve. Also, the victim was a suspect in a robbery case and officers tried to arrest him but he fought them.
In the video uploaded by Blackburn, it shows that the homeless man was swinging his arms at the police officers then one officer tackles him. Another stuns him with a stun gun but five seconds later, five gunshots were heard from the video. Blackburn continues to ask why he was shot to death if he was already tased.
The latest killing draws attention again to the lethal force used by police in line with the attacks regarding the killings in Ferguson, Missouri and New York last year that has sparked outrage not only by the citizens in the area but internationally.
According to Reuters, on Sunday evening, a crowd gathered at the Los Angeles Pershing Square to remember the man known only as "Africa".