Thanks to Warren at UpsideUSA for giving me the heads up that some new information has come out about two recent shootings I have blogged about recently.
Apparently Chief Bratton is allowing some outside experts to come into the investigation of the shootings involving Jose Pena and his daughter plus the Devin Brown shooting where the 13 year old gangster tried to run into the police:
LAPD Chief William Bratton said Tuesday he will invite outside experts to join an internal review of the police shooting of Jose Raul Pena and his toddler daughter, an unusual move he said reflects the “exceptional’ nature of the case.
…
Unlike most boards, the chief said, this one will include law enforcement experts unaffiliated with the Los Angeles Police Department. While specific members have yet to be named, the chief cited the National Tactical Officers Association as an example of a group that could be tapped.
“It warranted the department making every effort to determine what happened, what we can learn from it, and how we can make sure it never happens again,” he said, adding that 19-month-old Suzie Pena was the first hostage killed by police gunfire in the SWAT team’s four-decade history.
The board will be overseen by Assistant Chief Sharon Papa, who said she will look for “a good cross-section of people’ to take part.
He also spoke about the re-enactment of the Devin Brown shooting:
Police will turn over the results of their investigation into the February shooting death of 13-year-old Devin Brown to the District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 1, Bratton said. Police have determined that an officer fired 10 shots at the teen as he backed a car into a police cruiser and hit him seven times.
In investigating the incident at 83rd Street and Western Avenue, the department re-created the scene, complete with paving and painting, in a vacant field in the San Fernando Valley, said Deputy Chief Michael Berkow. With observers from numerous outside agencies present, police studied ballistics and trajectories using lasers and other technology.
“A lot of what we learned on the Devin Brown re-enactment will be applicable to the SWAT shooting,” Bratton said.
The chief said he does not think there was criminal conduct by officers in either case, though the decision is the domain of the district attorney.
The one thing not unsurprising about the is their ability to stir the pot with the slightest bit of information. Take this photo the LAPD released showing the re-enactment of the Devin Brown shooting:
And here we go with the media who jump in with their monday morning quarterbacking:
An elaborate re-creation of the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Devin Brown, staged on a vacant lot in Granada Hills by the LAPD with help from Hollywood experts, casts doubts on a central justification for the shooting: that the officer was standing in the path of the teenager’s oncoming car when he opened fire.
The Feb. 6 shooting unfolded at the end of a brief chase in which Devin drove onto a sidewalk, then backed the stolen car toward officers at 83rd Street and Western Avenue in South Los Angeles.
Ever since, police investigators have been trying to determine whether the officer was standing directly in the path of the car or off to the side.
Police Chief William J. Bratton said Tuesday that by painstakingly reenacting the shooting, detectives had concluded that Officer Steve Garcia was standing to the side of Devin’s red Toyota Camry when he fired 10 rounds into the vehicle, hitting Devin seven times.
The finding is potentially crucial, because Garcia has told investigators that he felt in danger as Devin backed the car toward him, leaving him no choice but to shoot, law enforcement sources say. LAPD rules allow an officer to fire at a moving vehicle if he believes his life or the lives of bystanders are in jeopardy.
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The reenactment showed that although Garcia was not behind Devin’s vehicle when he fired, he had been within the car’s path a few seconds earlier. Several LAPD sources said detectives were examining the possibility that Garcia drew his gun while behind the car but fired seconds later after moving to the side.
Critics of the shooting, however, said the findings underscored their belief that Garcia shot at Devin unnecessarily and that the officer’s life was not in jeopardy.
“If the officer is not in the path of the vehicle, it will be very difficult to sell this as a clean shooting, and that’s just physics,” said Brian Dunn, an attorney representing the Brown family in a civil suit against the city. “A car does not move sideways. It moves forward and backward.”
Yup, according to Dunn the only real justification would have been if the officer dug his feet into the ground while the car is speeding towards him and to only shoot then. Far be it for the officer to move out of the path while ending the deadly threat that this idiot posed. Maybe he could have shot the gas tank and then blew the whole car up also, just like the movies….which most of these idiots have obviously seen way to often.
The fact is that if a 3,000lb piece of metal is coming at a officer driven by a suspect who had already tried to elude him, he will get out of the way while firing his weapon to make sure that if he does get out of the way successfully, that the driver is not able to turn the vehicle and attempt to kill him again….
This officer along with the Jose Pena shooting officers will not have charges filed against them. They did nothing wrong and hopefully the system works the way it should, but…you never can tell in LA. Everything is ruled by the PC police.
My favorite statement was by Devin Brown’s family lawyer:
“What we are not seeing are specific facts that go to the heart of whether this was a justified shooting,” Dunn said. “It will boil down to: Where was the officer standing when he fired all 10 rounds? Why did he not stop to assess the situation after firing one round?”
Oh boy thats rich. We should now fire one round, see if it hit the guy and if he is still going, if he still trying to kill me then I will fire another round. Not working yet? Ok, one more round.
Freakin retards.
Previous:
13 Year Old Gangster
13 Year Old Gangster, Update
13 Year Old Gangster, Update Again
13 Year Old Gangster, Part IV
Previously on the Jose Pena Shooting
LAPD Shooting
LAPD Shooting, Update
LAPD Shooting, Update II
Al “Race Baiter” Sharpton
LAPD Shooting, Update III
LAPD Shooting, Update IV
See author page
