Autopsy shows Los Angeles police shot man 3 times

[webfact]

Autopsy shows Los Angeles police shot man 3 times
TAMI ABDOLLAH, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An autopsy report released Monday shows that a 25-year-old black man killed in a confrontation with Los Angeles police this summer was shot three times, including in his right side, right arm and his back.

The report on the autopsy of Ezell Ford by the Los Angeles County coroner's office had been ordered withheld by police for months to avoid tainting potential witness statements.

Ford was unarmed when police confronted him on a street near his home Aug. 11. Police said officers tried to speak to him but ended up in a struggle and shot him when he tried to grab an officer's gun.

The autopsy report stated that a muzzle imprint was found around the back wound and coroner's investigators noted abrasions to Ford's left hand, forearm and elbow.

Steve Lerman, an attorney for Ford's parents, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Ford's parents have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit and $75 million claim against the city.

The suit said two gang officers involved in the shooting — Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas — knew Ford from the neighborhood and were aware he had mental problems.

The suit also claimed that the city, LAPD and 10 unnamed superiors or other officers were part of a culture that tolerated civil rights violations, including racial profiling and excessive force against blacks.

The withholding of the autopsy report became an issue itself, but in November, Mayor Eric Garcetti promised that it would be released before year's end.

Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said in a statement that the autopsy presented only "one set of facts among many hundreds being collected and assessed in the ongoing investigation."


-- (c) Associated Press 2014-12-30

[Ulysses G.]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

[Boon Mee]

That’s how simple it was to stay alive. When Officer Wilson told St. Michael of Swisher Sweets to get out of the middle of the street, all he had to do was take a few steps to the sidewalk. Had he done so, this “gentle giant” would still be alive strong-arming convenience store clerks today. Like in the Chris Rock video where he tells blacks how not to get their asses kicked. “Obey the law.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR465HoCWFQ

[ezzra]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Most of these guys are high on something, be it a drug, alcohol or stupidity, otherwise,

no expiations why would anyone will go head to head with an armed, ready to shoot,

cops?

[JetsetBkk]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Most of these guys are high on something, be it a drug, alcohol or stupidity, otherwise,

no expiations why would anyone will go head to head with an armed, ready to shoot,

cops?

Stupid is as stupid does.

[humqdpf]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Most of these guys are high on something, be it a drug, alcohol or stupidity, otherwise,

no expiations why would anyone will go head to head with an armed, ready to shoot,

cops?

What exactly do you mean by "most of these guys?" You are clearly referring to a category. Did you mean black guys? After all, the story refers to a black guy who was killed by the cops - we all know that this is becoming frequent.

Or did you mean persons with mental illness? The deceased had mental health problems (which apparently the officers knew about because they were specialist gang officers and very familiar with the neighbourhood).

In any country, there are people who for various reasons are going to act out in public. In countries other than the USA, this will invariably involve an encounter with the police and some sort of detention until the matter is resolved at least to some degree. In the USA, there is a high probability that such a person will be killed by the police. And a high percentage of those killed by the police are black.

I am not going to claim that no other developed country has any racism among its police - clearly, there have been cases of racism in at least some countries. But such racism (including institutional racism) in those countries usually does not invariably lead to the death of the suspect. These countries have developed methods of dealing with "non-compliant" suspects that do not involve killing them. Perhaps the USA should adopt some of these too, not to mention banning hand-guns at least in cities.

[Ulysses G.]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Most of these guys are high on something, be it a drug, alcohol or stupidity, otherwise,

no expiations why would anyone will go head to head with an armed, ready to shoot,

cops?

What exactly do you mean by "most of these guys?"

How about violent criminals?

[JockPieandBeans]

Or did you mean persons with mental illness? The deceased had mental health problems (which apparently the officers knew about because they were specialist gang officers and very familiar with the neighbourhood).

Does this infer that the reason " Specialist Gang Officers " were aware of him because he was part of a gang ?

Is being part of a gang, now construed as a " Mental Illness " ?

Or is that particular " Neighbourhood " Just a living, breathing asylum ?

We no longer have plain old " Bad Guys " anymore. Always someone to dream up an excuse.

[F430murci]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Most of these guys are high on something, be it a drug, alcohol or stupidity, otherwise,

no expiations why would anyone will go head to head with an armed, ready to shoot,

cops?

What exactly do you mean by "most of these guys?"

How about violent criminals?

Lol, not like it takes a degree in nuclear physics to figure that one out . . .

[F430murci]

Don't try to grab a policeman's gun. Lesson learned.

Oh the logic. Too bad more in the US cannot utilize such basic logic . . . or common sense.

[cookee68]

I would do the same if I was a police officer and you tried to take my gun, and the fact that the parents say the officers knew he had mental issues, makes it even more dangerous, stop trying to turn it into a racial thing, had it been a black cop shoots white man with mental issues it would it have been the same response, NO

[bunnydrops]

Just wondering. Was there any witnesses to him reaching for the officer's gun besides the officers. Was the gun in the officer's hand (and why?) or holstered?.