The Los Angeles Police Department says it is investigating after an officer fatally shot a black man following a foot chase.
LAPD officers say the incident started when they tried to perform a traffic stop early Saturday afternoon on a car with paper license plates. Officers suspected the vehicle, which contained at least two occupants, was stolen. The car failed to stop and officers gave chase, according to authorities.
When the car finally came to a halt, two men fled on foot in different directions, the LAPD said in a statement. Two officers chased one of the suspects, following him to the rear of a nearby residence.
An officer whose name has not been released then fatally shot the man, less than two blocks away from where the foot pursuit started. Paramedics declared the man dead at the scene of the shooting.
No officers were injured and a handgun was recovered at the scene, the LAPD said. It was not clear Sunday what happened to the other man who fled the car.
Several CNN affiliates and the Los Angeles Times identified the man killed by police as Carnell Snell Jr., 18. His mother, Monique Morgan, was visibly distraught as she told reporters her son was shot five times.
“My daughter got a phone call,” she said as she wept. “It said that the police shot him.”
When speaking with CNN affiliate KABC, Morgan claimed that the LAPD had not given her any information about her son.
“[The police] won’t let me see him,” Morgan told reporters. “They said they moved him already. I want to see him.”
As with any officer-involved shooting, LAPD’s Force Investigation Division will investigate and present its findings to Police Chief Charlie Beck. The chief, along with the LAPD board of commissioners, will determine whether the officer complied with the department procedures.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office also plans to review evidence collected during the investigation.
Crowds gathered near the scene of the shooting and remained there into the evening, but the demonstrations were peaceful. Police monitoring the protest initially wore riot gear, but removed it later, according to CNN affiliate KTLA.
The Los Angeles incident comes in the wake of recent police shootings of black men in El Cajon, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Charlotte, North Carolina. The shooting victims in El Cajon and Tulsa were unarmed, but questions remain on whether the victim in Charlotte had a weapon.
