Posted on 05/12/2008 9:21:31 AM PDT by Smogger
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Inglewood police killed one man and wounded another when they opened fire on a vehicle, saying they believed the occupants had shot at them -- although it turned out that the men were unarmed and their car was never struck with bullets.
Two officers were in the area of Crenshaw Boulevard and 85th Street at 1:40 a.m. Sunday when they said they heard gunshots coming from the parking lot of a Rally's Restaurant, said Inglewood police Sgt. Jeff Steinhoff.
"As they looked over, their attention was drawn to a male running away eastbound from the parking lot," Steinhoff said.
The male got into a vehicle, which moved slowly through the parking lot in the 3000 block of Manchester Boulevard, said Inglewood police Sgt. Hector Ramirez.
The officers said they felt something strike their patrol vehicle and reported hearing gunshots that they thought came from the car, Ramirez said. Both officers then fired multiple shots into the suspects' vehicle, hitting two of its three occupants, he said.
The car stopped directly across from them, he said.
Michael Woods Byoune, 19, of Los Angeles, a passenger in the vehicle, died at the scene, said coroner's Lt. John Kades.
A second occupant -- the driver, the Los Angeles Times reported -- was taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. He was in stable condition and expected to survive, Ramirez said.
The third person in the car was unharmed, Ramirez said.
Neither officer was hurt. Their patrol car had not been hit by gunfire, Sgt. Dennis Brown told The Times.
No weapons were recovered and no one was immediately charged with a crime, the newspaper reported.
Vidal Garcia, a night manager at Rally's -- about 30 yards from where the officers opened fire -- told the newspaper he "heard lots of gunshots" and was surprised police didn't find any weapons "because there were gunshots before the cops even got there."
Another Rally's employee told The Times he saw only the police taking out their guns, that he and two co-workers ducked as soon as they heard gunfire, and that he heard screaming after more than 15 shots.
He said recalled hearing someone say, "Oh, I can't breathe" and "I'm not armed," The Times reported.
The wounded man's brother called for stricter guidelines on circumstances in which police can open fire.
"They should have certain rules and guidelines that they go by, as far as, you know, just coming and just shooting without saying anything. I mean, come on now, that's just, that's just, that's ludicrous," Issac Williams told the TV station.
Williams' younger brother was shot in the leg. He and his friends had gone out for hamburgers, the TV station reported.
Byoune's family told reporters he was not a gang member and did not have a criminal record. His mother, Jackie Roberts, 55, said her son had never been to jail and was not involved in violence or gangs.
"Right now it's Mother's Day. Last year on Mother's Day he was there for me. Now's he not here and I won't see him no more," she told The Times. Related Articles: Find out more about Shootings, Crime, Gang Violence and Culture and Lifestyle.
You’re one of those people who think everything printed in a newspaper is true.
Have you sent algore a check for your carbon offsets yet?
I hit some bad traffic today. I blame Bush for that :-P
I believe the reference was to corroborating evidence that there was gunfire before the police started shooting. That does not mean that the police officers were correct in their actions, of course, but only that the article appears to be written so as to deliberately paint the officers in the worst possible light - being the idea that they fired without any provocation.
Police officers reacting to gun shots still need to make sure of their targets, of course.
“Police officers reacting to gun shots still need to make sure of their targets, of course.”
No they do not. That’s been proven time and again. You and I maybe, but not them.
Cold blooded murder by “peace officers”.
Were these police Islamic infiltrators? -you know, like in London?
What they need, and what they do and can get away with are commonly different things.
propaganda by post #3!
Outstanding!
You're so predictable!
The first post was a random insult directed at the NYPD, even though the article was about a different police force 3000 miles away.
I certainly was not defending the Inglewood police.
propaganda by post #3! Outstanding!
While I am not surprised that you are unclear on the definition of propaganda, I hardly think it is propaganda to relate a detail admitted to by all parties.
You're so predictable!
And yet your comment is after-the-fact.
“...and no one was immediately charged with a crime...”
Somebody should have been charged.
Lemme put it this way...if Joe Citizen had done what these cops did, you think the above quoted comment would have been in the article?
Hell no.
The laws should be TOUGHER for LEOS, not a free ride.
THAT’S how we know we live in a police state.
These cops should be charged with the EXACT same charges a civilian would be charged with in the same circumstances.
Period.
Question: What is suspicious of a person running away from an area where guns are being fired? Wouldn’t any able bodied person do the same?
BLer!
Cops are your friends? I don’t think so.
Next time you may need a cop call on the Columbine, CO police. The ones who sat in the parking lot at the high school while kids were being slaughtered.
well duh ???
Im sure the DA will file charges for resisting arrest, impeding a police officers bullet, and tampering w/ physical evidence...
I guess I should be more clear... There was apparently some precedent act that started the sequence of events. The response to the precedent act appears to be excessive.
By “provocation” I meant only that there was some act which precipitated the events. Not that the response was correct.
And you still have cops on this board that say why do you disrespect us. What loons you just don't know when one of them is going off and do some wild as* shooting.
Damn roofers and their nail guns....
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