Video Shows LAPD Officers Fatally Shooting Homeless Man

A disturbing video posted to Facebook show the LAPD gun down a homeless man they say tried to reach for an officer’s gun.

Caution: disturbing video with extreme images and language

On Sunday around noon Los Angeles police officers shot and killed a homeless man after tasering him. The graphic and disturbing video above was taken by a bystander and posted to Facebook, where it has received nearly five million views in 16 hours.

The video does not show the events that led up to the confrontation, but an LAPD spokesperson says the man “began fighting and physically resisting the officers.” When they attempted to take him into custody they used a Taser. That attempt, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said, was “ineffective.”

“At some point in there, a struggle over one of the officer’s weapons occurred,” Smith said. “At that point an officer-involved shooting happened.” 

Three police officers, including a sergeant fired at the man, whom bystanders identified only as “Africa,” his street name. At least five shots can be heard in the video.

While the police were engaged with Africa, a woman picked up an officer’s baton. She was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody, although the LA Times reports she had not been booked.

One bystander told the Times the homeless man had refused to remove his tent, which is allowed on the street up until 6:00 AM. 

“This man got shot over a tent,” he said.

L.A. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff told the LA Times he first saw the video on social media. 

“My heart just started pounding just watching it,” Soboroff said. “I feel the adrenaline. These situations are just so horrific.”

“Of course I would encourage people not to rush to judgment. It’s not fair to anybody. It’s not fair to the family of the victim or the victim or the officers,” he told the Times. “We’ll find out what happened.”

 

Image: Screenshot via Facebook
Hat tip: Talking Points Memo