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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.
No you have to be pulling out of a parking spot when someone is standing in the street trying to get your attention, and then you have to back up your car far enough to hit a wall on the other side of the sidewalk, then gun your engine and hit the person in order to get shot.
Again, there is no dispute over whether or not they were trying to run the officer down. They admitted as much in court.
Their argument is that they weren't sure he was a police officer, not that they weren't trying to run him down.
Earthquake sounds ~ just had one right here under my house last week. Thought it was a bomb going off.
Or was it the fellows who shot up the highschooler in DC?
Maybe it was the Boy Scout who was a passenger in the car where the FBI agent decided to blow his head off in MD.
Doggone it man you have to name the deal ~ not everything is about the"Bridgroom Shooting" ~
You'd think Angelinos couldn't be fooled by this stuff, but there it is. No smoke. No perps. No sound that could be precisely located.
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If there are other facts not in the article, why don't you share them with us? Or, is "there are other facts not in the article" a standard line from the police are always right crowd?
Maybe the cops should be removed also.
Cops are civilians.
They just act like they're not and we're the enemy.
I can't picture that happening.
I can't think of a single circumstance where the addition of a cop won't make things worse.
Excellent idea.
Except they don't get to borrow the weapon, they get to enlist the carrier.
Excellent idea.
Except they don't get to borrow the weapon, they get to enlist the carrier.
Where I live at one time if you obeyed the law it was true.
With the Plant City PD it is still true.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies are a nasty bunch that is best to steer clear of.
There are a multitude of references on the internet concerning this phenomenon.
So, falling tiles sound like gunfire.
First find a tile; see if it falls.
Clearly we need a tax on hamburgers to help pay for the medical costs society bears when burger-fetchers get shot up by police.
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