The man reportedly walking away when deputies opened fire.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies gunned down an armed suspect as he was walking away in a shooting captured on video.
A man was reported in Lynwood who was firing a gun into the air, prompting deputies to respond and confront the man in front of a gas station, according to an Associated Press report.
The man ignored commands to drop the weapon, and in fact witnesses said he pointed the gun at deputies before the shooting started.
On the video, the deputies can be seen firing at the man, who fell and crawled on the ground, eventually dying at the scene. Police recovered a .45 caliber handgun that was loaded. No name has been released yet.
The department is reviewing the video, as is their procedure. They will be interviewing witnesses who saw the suspect before the shooting, as well as analyzing physical evidence and video footage.
The incident resulted in protests in the neighborhood. The video showed deputies continuing to fire even after he fell to the ground.
Although his name has not been released, relatives said he was 28-year-old Nicholas Robertson.
The shooting prompted a dozen people to gather at a Saturday evening protests with signs and megaphones, angrily chanting against “stolen lives,” according to a Los Angeles Times report. Police looked on as the protests continued.
Robertson was reportedly a graduate of Lynwood High School and a father to three children.
The video was 29 seconds long and was filmed at a restaurant across the street.
Although the video shows the suspect walking away from officers, that doesn’t necessarily mean the shooting was unjustified, according to a suspect quoted in the report. If the deputies think the suspect could pose a threat to bystanders by walking toward the gas station, they could be justified in opening fire, he said.
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