More protests after deadly police shooting in Anaheim
(CBS/AP) ANAHEIM, Calif. - An officer-involved shooting that left an unarmed man dead and led to a violent clash between witnesses and police has stirred anger and protests for a second night.
Demonstrators gathered near the shooting scene Sunday night and expressed their outrage by setting fire to a dumpster and moving it into the street, as police monitored the scene from a helicopter.
The tense scene followed a day of protest where a crowd stormed the police headquarters lobby, demanding an independent review of officer-involved shootings in the aftermath of the death of Diaz.
"We're not hiding anything," said Anaheim Police Chief John Welter, adding that the District Attorney's Office would be investigating the Diaz shooting, as is routine in such cases.
Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait urged the State Attorney General to conduct an investigation as well.
"Whatever the truth is, we will own it," he said.
Hours later - and several miles from the scene of Saturday afternoon's shooting - there was a second deadly Anaheim police shooting, following a pursuit of a stolen car.
A gunman who opened fire on an officer at the end of the chase was killed, CBS Station KCBS reported.
That shooting climaxed an incident that began around 11:20 p.m. Sunday, when anti-gang officers spotted a known gang member on probation in what they soon determined was a stolen SUV, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said. The vehicle's driver lost control on West Guinida Lane, and two men and a woman exited.
"The officers were in foot pursuit for about a half-block when one male suspect fired at the officers," Dunn said. "The officers returned fire, striking the suspect, who was dead at the scene."
A gun was found next to the body, he said. The second male suspect was detained, but the female got away. Dunn said it was not immediately determined if the suspect who fired on officers was the gang member on probation.
Sunday's protest was sparked by the shooting of Manuel Diaz in front of an Anaheim apartment complex following a foot chase. The 24-year-old later died at a local hospital.
Police Chief John Welter said two officers were placed on paid leave after the shooting.
He said the officers approached three men who were acting suspiciously in an alleyway when they ran away. One of the officers chased Diaz to the front of an apartment complex where the shooting occurred.
Welter would not say what led the officer to shoot Diaz, citing an independent investigation by the county's district attorney office. Police said Diaz was a known gang member.
A crowd estimated at around 100 people gathered at the scene.
The shooting sparked a melee in the neighborhood as some people threw rocks and bottles at officers who were securing the scene for investigators to collect evidence. Dunn said that as officers detained an instigator, the crowd advanced on police, so they fired bean bags and pepper balls at them.
Video captured by a crew from CBS Station KCAL crew showed a chaotic scene as some people ducked to the ground and others scattered screaming. A man is seen yelling at an officer even as a weapon is pointed at him; two adults huddled to shield a boy and girl.
Meanwhile, a police dog charged at several people sitting on the grass, including a woman and a child in a stroller, before biting a man in the arm.
Dunn said the dog accidentally got out of a patrol car. "Officers were able to get the canine back into the vehicle, and we don't know how many, if any, people were bitten," Dunn said.
He also said he didn't know whether police warned the crowd to disperse before firing the rubber bullets and pepper balls.
Dunn said five people, two of them juveniles, were arrested during the unrest.
In Sunday night's unrest, officers and firefighters monitored the protest from a distance, determined not to break it up unless it began to impede traffic or the burning trash cans began threatening lives or property, Dunn said.
"Several times, when we responded, they threw debris and bottles at us," Dunn said.