Saturday, Feb 04, 2012
8:29 a.m. PDT
8:29 a.m. PDT
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Police Chief Says Officers In Fatal Shooting Were Threatened by Suspect
(CNS) Posted Tuesday September 7, 2010 - 3:11pm
Officers involved in the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man near MacArthur Park were defending themselves against an aggressive suspect who had already threatened other people in the neighborhood and refused to obey officers' orders, Police Chief Charlie Beck said today.
Manuel Jamines, a 37-year-old Guatemalan construction worker and father of three, was shot to death by police around 1 p.m. Sunday.
Police said he was drunk and threatening passersby near Sixth Street and Union Avenue.
Beck told the Police Commission a resident flagged down three bicycle officers from the Rampart Division to report a man with a knife who was threatening people.
He said the officers found the man and confronted him.
"He was ordered several times in English and Spanish to drop the knife, and failed to comply,' Beck said. "The suspect then raised the knife over his head and advanced on officers, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred. The suspect fell to the ground where he was taken into custody without further incident and a knife was recovered at the scene.'
Jamines was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The investigation revealed that several citizens were threatened by the suspect with a knife just prior to the officers' arrival," Beck said.
The shooting sparked a wave of protests Monday, with police clashing with protesters along West Sixth Street near the shooting scene.
Four people were arrested, and three officers suffered minor injuries, said Officer Rosario Herrera.
As night fell, trash and mattresses were set afire on several side streets off Sixth.
Protesters said Jamines was drunk but not dangerous, and the shooting was unjustified.
"This guy didn't speak good English. He was just walking around," 27-year-old Carlos Ortega said as he stood in front of a hilltop apartment building on Union, looking down the street at helmeted police blocking the intersection at Sixth.
"The police, they put him on the ground and shot him," Ortega said, basing his account on what he said others told him. "People in the neighborhood, they are (upset)."
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, issued a statement defending the officers involved in the shooting.
"If an intoxicated man is reckless enough to threaten innocent people with a knife, causing one resident to flag down passing officers for help, it should come as no surprise that he may do something as irrational as turn on the uniformed bicycle officers with that knife in an attempt to kill them,' according to the union statement.
"Likewise, any person, whether or not they speak English, or who has had too much to drink, should understand that threatening officers with a knife will result in a swift and appropriate response by police, and if necessary, it will include the use of deadly force. It was precisely that combination of behavior on the part of Manuel Jamines on September 5 that precipitated his death.'
LAPD patrols were boosted in the area today, concerned about the possibility of additional protests that could turn unruly.
Beck said the department would conduct an internal review of the shooting, with the District Attorney's Office also participating. He also said community meetings would be held throughout the week "in order to put forth different issues involved and try to allay some of the concerns of the community.'
Police Commission President John Mack said the LAPD Inspector General's Office would also conduct its own probe of the shooting. Mack said he also hoped to attend some of the community meetings.
"This is obviously an incident of great public concern, but we're going to make sure it's (the investigation) thorough, it's objective, it's comprehensive and it's fair,' Mack said.
On Monday afternoon, a mostly Latino crowd of protesters set up a street-side memorial and marched from the shooting scene to the LAPD's Rampart Station and back.
Others held a candlelight vigil.
LAPD Lt. Andrew Neiman said there were three distinct groups on Monday: those involved in the vigil; bystanders who watched without taking part, and a group of 80-120 more "rambunctious and volatile' protesters.
"They were provocateurs throughout the day,' Neiman said. "They marched to the Rampart Station at least three times, and down to Alvarado Street two or three times. About 7:30 p.m., they initiated a confrontation with officers directing traffic by throwing rocks, bottles and eggs at their vehicles.'
Police in riot gear shut down Sixth Street on Monday afternoon, but as day turned to night, some of the demonstrators threw rocks and bottles and started fires in the street, and officers formed a skirmish line to get them to disperse.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the Rampart Station for a time and shouted down a police officer who tried to talk to them. Some protesters asked why police didn't use a non-lethal weapon to restrain the suspect.
"When you're trying to stop a suspect or stop a deadly action, the purpose is to stop the threat as quickly as possible,' Neiman said earlier.
Investigators had found several witnesses who said they saw Jamines threatening people, he said.
"One of those was a woman who said she saw the suspect threatening a woman with a knife,' the lieutenant said. "Her attention was drawn by a crying 4-year-old who was standing next to the woman.'
Neiman said the woman then intervened.
"She told the man to go away because he was scaring these people, at which time the suspect then turned his attention to her and began threatening her with the knife,' he said.
Jamines was familiar to neighborhood residents who described him as a "nuisance who was habitually drunk' and often walked around with a "glazed look' on his face, the lieutenant said.
Area resident Kelly Flor, who identified herself as a community activist, told NBC4 that Jamines "could not speak English, so he could not understand what the officer was saying, and after that the officer proceeded in shooting him twice in the head.'
Neiman said there was already friction between neighborhood residents and Rampart Station officers, who have been cracking down on "illegal street-vending.'
Neiman said the shooting was under investigation, and witnesses were urged to contact the LAPD's Force Investigation unit at (213) 486-5200.
Residents in the neighborhood include recent immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, Neiman said.
Some of the protesters on Monday handed out literature for the Revolutionary Communist Party and seemed intent on provoking police, he said.
Officers involved in the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man near MacArthur Park were defending themselves against an aggressive suspect who had already threatened other people in the neighborhood and refused to obey officers' orders, Police Chief Charlie Beck said today.
Manuel Jamines, a 37-year-old Guatemalan construction worker and father of three, was shot to death by police around 1 p.m. Sunday.
Police said he was drunk and threatening passersby near Sixth Street and Union Avenue.
Beck told the Police Commission a resident flagged down three bicycle officers from the Rampart Division to report a man with a knife who was threatening people.
He said the officers found the man and confronted him.
"He was ordered several times in English and Spanish to drop the knife, and failed to comply,' Beck said. "The suspect then raised the knife over his head and advanced on officers, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred. The suspect fell to the ground where he was taken into custody without further incident and a knife was recovered at the scene.'
Jamines was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The investigation revealed that several citizens were threatened by the suspect with a knife just prior to the officers' arrival," Beck said.
The shooting sparked a wave of protests Monday, with police clashing with protesters along West Sixth Street near the shooting scene.
Four people were arrested, and three officers suffered minor injuries, said Officer Rosario Herrera.
As night fell, trash and mattresses were set afire on several side streets off Sixth.
Protesters said Jamines was drunk but not dangerous, and the shooting was unjustified.
"This guy didn't speak good English. He was just walking around," 27-year-old Carlos Ortega said as he stood in front of a hilltop apartment building on Union, looking down the street at helmeted police blocking the intersection at Sixth.
"The police, they put him on the ground and shot him," Ortega said, basing his account on what he said others told him. "People in the neighborhood, they are (upset)."
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, issued a statement defending the officers involved in the shooting.
"If an intoxicated man is reckless enough to threaten innocent people with a knife, causing one resident to flag down passing officers for help, it should come as no surprise that he may do something as irrational as turn on the uniformed bicycle officers with that knife in an attempt to kill them,' according to the union statement.
"Likewise, any person, whether or not they speak English, or who has had too much to drink, should understand that threatening officers with a knife will result in a swift and appropriate response by police, and if necessary, it will include the use of deadly force. It was precisely that combination of behavior on the part of Manuel Jamines on September 5 that precipitated his death.'
LAPD patrols were boosted in the area today, concerned about the possibility of additional protests that could turn unruly.
Beck said the department would conduct an internal review of the shooting, with the District Attorney's Office also participating. He also said community meetings would be held throughout the week "in order to put forth different issues involved and try to allay some of the concerns of the community.'
Police Commission President John Mack said the LAPD Inspector General's Office would also conduct its own probe of the shooting. Mack said he also hoped to attend some of the community meetings.
"This is obviously an incident of great public concern, but we're going to make sure it's (the investigation) thorough, it's objective, it's comprehensive and it's fair,' Mack said.
On Monday afternoon, a mostly Latino crowd of protesters set up a street-side memorial and marched from the shooting scene to the LAPD's Rampart Station and back.
Others held a candlelight vigil.
LAPD Lt. Andrew Neiman said there were three distinct groups on Monday: those involved in the vigil; bystanders who watched without taking part, and a group of 80-120 more "rambunctious and volatile' protesters.
"They were provocateurs throughout the day,' Neiman said. "They marched to the Rampart Station at least three times, and down to Alvarado Street two or three times. About 7:30 p.m., they initiated a confrontation with officers directing traffic by throwing rocks, bottles and eggs at their vehicles.'
Police in riot gear shut down Sixth Street on Monday afternoon, but as day turned to night, some of the demonstrators threw rocks and bottles and started fires in the street, and officers formed a skirmish line to get them to disperse.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the Rampart Station for a time and shouted down a police officer who tried to talk to them. Some protesters asked why police didn't use a non-lethal weapon to restrain the suspect.
"When you're trying to stop a suspect or stop a deadly action, the purpose is to stop the threat as quickly as possible,' Neiman said earlier.
Investigators had found several witnesses who said they saw Jamines threatening people, he said.
"One of those was a woman who said she saw the suspect threatening a woman with a knife,' the lieutenant said. "Her attention was drawn by a crying 4-year-old who was standing next to the woman.'
Neiman said the woman then intervened.
"She told the man to go away because he was scaring these people, at which time the suspect then turned his attention to her and began threatening her with the knife,' he said.
Jamines was familiar to neighborhood residents who described him as a "nuisance who was habitually drunk' and often walked around with a "glazed look' on his face, the lieutenant said.
Area resident Kelly Flor, who identified herself as a community activist, told NBC4 that Jamines "could not speak English, so he could not understand what the officer was saying, and after that the officer proceeded in shooting him twice in the head.'
Neiman said there was already friction between neighborhood residents and Rampart Station officers, who have been cracking down on "illegal street-vending.'
Neiman said the shooting was under investigation, and witnesses were urged to contact the LAPD's Force Investigation unit at (213) 486-5200.
Residents in the neighborhood include recent immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, Neiman said.
Some of the protesters on Monday handed out literature for the Revolutionary Communist Party and seemed intent on provoking police, he said.
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