The Los Angeles Police Department says it is investigating after an officer fatally shot a black man following a chase.
LAPD officers say the incident started when they tried to perform a traffic stop Saturday after spotting a vehicle that had paper license plates.
When the vehicle didn’t stop, officers tailed the car, reporting it as a possible stolen vehicle, authorities said.
The vehicle later slowed to a stop and two black men fled on foot in opposite directions, according to the LAPD. Two officers split up to chase down each of them.
One officer, whose name has not been released, fatally shot one man less than two blocks away from where the foot pursuit started.
Paramedics declared the man dead at the scene of the shooting — the back of a residence where the chase ended.
“No officers were injured and a handgun was recovered at scene,” the LAPD said. Authorities did not say what happened to the second man.
The Los Angeles Times, which spoke to the victim’s mother, identified the man shot as Carnell Snell Jr, 18. His mother, Monique Snell, told reporters as she wept that her son was shot five times.
“[The police] won’t let me see him,” Snell 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. Beck, 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.
Protesters peacefully gathered Saturday night near the scene of the shooting. Authorities left the scene before midnight Sunday morning.
The Los Angeles incident comes in the wake of shooting 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 one in Charlotte was.
