Police shoot and kill man holding cell phone in South Los Angeles
Police shot and killed a man who they believed to be armed in South Los Angeles on Friday evening. It turns out that he was actually holding his cellphone when the shooting occurred.
It happened at around 10:20 p.m. at the intersection of Imperial Highway and S. Spring Street, where officers pulled a car over after witnessing it "driving erratically," according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers say that they ordered the driver, identified as 35-year-old Mario Sanchez, to lower his windows and place his hands outside of the car.
"Sanchez yelled profanity at the officers and, moments later, exited his driver's door. Sanchez faced the officers, removed a dark object from his waistband area, and quickly pointed it at them, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting," said a press release from LAPD.
He was struck by gunfire and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.
"The object Sanchez pointed at the officers at the time of the OIS was later determined to be a cellphone," police said.
As such, and in line with California law, the state's Department of Justice will now be investigating the shooting. The decision is pursuant with AB 1506, which calls for independent review of any officer-involved shooting that results in the death of an unarmed civilian.
No other injuries were reported.
SkyCal flew over the scene of the shooting, where several LAPD patrol cars were surrounded by yellow tape. Evidence markers littered the street around the cars.
