California DOJ declines charges against LAPD officers who fatally shot man holding plastic fork in 2024

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday announced that the state's Department of Justice would not be pursuing criminal charges against the Los Angeles Police Department officer who fatally shot a man who was holding a plastic fork in 2024.

In a news release shared Tuesday, Bonta's office said that there was insufficient evidence gathered in their investigation to support the criminal prosecution of the LAPD officer who fatally shot Jason Maccani on Feb. 3, 2024, at a downtown Los Angeles warehouse in the Skid Row area. 

At the time, officers were called to the 600 block of Towne Avenue for reports of an assault with a deadly weapon, with the caller claiming that Maccani was armed with a stick and threatening employees at a business in the area. 

According to the DOJ's report, the caller later told police that Maccani was unarmed and guarding the door to the business. Arriving officers found that Maccani had not hit anyone, and that the only objects inside the business that could be used as weapons were scissors and shoes, the report said. 

In a news release shared when LAPD officials released body cam footage of the incident, police said that when they initially made contact with Maccani, he began to comply with their commands, but "then turned and charged toward the officers with a white object protruding from the bottom of his clenched right hand, which was held at chest level."

Bonta's report said that officers fired multiple 40 mm rounds and a less-lethal beanbag at Maccani, but he continued to move towards them, grabbing a female officer and her beanbag shotgun before pushing her against the wall while holding the plastic fork to her neck. 

One round was fired by LAPD Officer Caleb Garcia-Alamilla, striking Maccani, who died after he was taken to a nearby hospital. 

The AG's Office investigation was conducted as a requirement under Assembly Bill 1506, which calls for state investigation into all officer-involved shootings resulting in an unarmed civilian's death. 

"A detailed analysis of the evidence surrounding the OIS shows that we could not disprove that Officer Garcia-Alamilla actually and reasonably believed that the use of deadly force was necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury to his fellow officer," the report said. "Therefore, a criminal prosecution is unsupported by the evidence."

In the weeks after the shooting, Maccani's family filed a damages claim against the city, alleging that the officer mishandled the confrontation. They then filed a civil rights lawsuit, which the LA Times says was settled with the city for $5.8 million.

"We acknowledge that this incident has caused grief for those impacted, including Mr. Maccani's family, the law enforcement agencies involved, and the Los Angeles community. We believe that it is our duty to foster trust within our justice system, and we will strive to ensure that the rights and dignity of all individuals are respected," Bonta's release said.