Man fatally wounded in Azusa officer-involved shooting

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The 24-year-old man died at a hospital following the shooting, which took place just before 1 p.m. in the 400 block of E. Lee Drive, said Lt. Holly Francisco of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, which is leading the investigation. His name was not released.
“A family members called 9-1-1 stating one of their family members was acting insane and had injured himself,” Francisco said. “The call was updated that the suspect was breaking into a house nearby.”
“When officers got on scene, they found the suspect, who had broken into a house, and as they cleared the house, an officer-involved shooting did occur,’ Francisco said. No officers were hurt.
No gun was from the scene, Francisco said. Several items, such as tools, were found near the spot where the shooting occurred, but it was not clear whether they may have played a role in the incident.
0622_NWS_SGT-L-AZSHOOT2Further details regarding the shooting were not available Sunday, as investigators were yet to interview the involved officer, Francisco said.
Nearby resident Jesse Zarate, 76, said he saw a police officer shoot a bloody man who had broken into a neighbor’s home.
The officer confronted the man behind the home and ordered him to stop, Zarate said. The man responded “shoot me, shoot me” and continued running toward neighboring homes.
The officer fired three times, seemingly striking the man in the back, Zarate said. The man fell to the ground wounded.
“I don’t blame the police,” Zarate said. “What if he could have gotten out and hurt somebody else.”
0622_NWS_SGT-L-AZSHOOT3When police first encountered the suspect, “He was bloody. All the house was bloody,” Zarate said.
It was not clear if the blood was due to the injuries the suspect inflicted on himself at the outset of the incident, or due to the several windows in the home that had been smashed, Francisco said. The lieutenant declined to discuss exactly where on his body the suspect had been shot, but said he had not been shot in the back.
Distraught family members of the fatally wounded suspect gathered at the scene and consoled each other. They declined to comment.
The home that was broken into was empty at the time, officials and neighbors said. The residents returned to the neighborhood as the investigation continued. They also declined to comment.

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One thought on “Man fatally wounded in Azusa officer-involved shooting

  1. This really sounds justified!!! Doesn’t LAPD follow a certain protocol when dealing with these types of incidents? It’s clear this man had no weapon. Why wasn’t he tasered or pepper spray used?06/20/15 High speed chase El Monte LAPD used bean bags bullets sure they did followed by really bullets! It’s obvious this guy was just on a mission to hurt his own self. (probably spun out on dope or been up a few days on one) So this cop just shoots him in cold blood because he told him too? WHATS REALLY GOING ON LAPD!!! GIVE US ANSWERS THIS IS BS!!!

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