KTLA 5 News Nicholas Robertson, 28, was shown in video crawling away from two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed him on Saturday morning after allegedly brandishing a handgun.
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The Sheriff’s Department said the man had fired shots into the air and pointed the weapon at the deputies before they opened fire.
The sheriff’s department said it received calls describing the suspect as a black male carrying a handgun and wearing a checkered shirt, and said that witnesses saw the suspect point a gun at deputies before the shooting.
The shooting will be investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney, the county coroner, the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau and Internal Affairs Bureau and the Office of Inspector General.
Katz said “public safety was critical here” because there were people on the street, including some at a gas station that Robertson was walking toward. Once on the ground, the camera panned to focus exclusively on the man, who crawls next to the gas station and away from the gunfire. Katz pleaded for patience, and said that “facts may change” as the investigation proceeds.
“I want to assure the public that the Sheriff’s Department takes deputy involved shootings very seriously and that this investigation will be handled with the utmost professionalism and integrity”.
Police responded to the scene after receiving multiple emergency calls about a “man with a gun” and “shots heard”, according to the LASD statement.
“They shot him”, Tracy Brown, a relative of the suspect’s wife, told the Los Angeles Times.
Katz said the shooting occurred after Robertson turned toward the deputies while holding the gun, which he “retained … throughout the event”.
Robertson, a graduate of Lynwood High School, was married and had three children, his family told KTLA-TV. One of the deputies fired 17 rounds and the second deputy fired 16, officials said at the news conference, which adds up to a total of 33 bullets. Whereas the cops say that Nicholas did not drop his weapon when Robertson should’ve dropped his gun, critics on social media are noting how violently police unloaded on Robertson as he tried to crawl away.
Swensson said the suspect was holding the weapon when he was shot at a gas station. The suspect was not believed to have fired his gun toward deputies.
Experts familiar with use-of-force cases said deputies will need to explain why they opened fire and continued to shoot as Robertson was on the ground.
Photos, video and 911 calls from the shooting will be released later today, officials said today. That’s when they searched for a gunman who had shot and wounded a deputy in the city that’s approximately 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles. “They must show they reasonably used deadly force”.
Nicholas Robertson, 28, of Lynwood died at the scene of the shooting, which unfolded just before 11 a.m. Saturday at Long Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue, according to Los Angeles county sheriff’s and coroner officials.
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The gun was not registered to Robertson and has not been reported stolen. His name has not been released.
