The California Attorney General is opening the first required investigation into a police shooting of an unarmed civilian who was involved in a Los Angeles County death in which police said the suspect walking Hollywood Boulevard had a counterfeit gun.
“We will take all necessary steps to ensure that a thorough, impartial investigation and review is completed,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Friday.
State lawmakers, spurred on by nationwide concerns about police killings, passed law last year requiring the attorney general to determine whether police have violated the law in civilian deaths. In the past these decisions were usually made by local prosecutors.
However, lawmakers limited the state investigation to cases where a civilian was shot dead by an officer without a weapon.
At the shooting before noon Thursday, officials said they had responded to reports that a man was walking around the Walk of Fame with a gun. At least one person said they saw him point a gun at someone.
Officials said a counterfeit handgun was found at the scene and LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar, a police spokeswoman, said she was “given that it appears to be exactly like a gun”.
The man, whose name was not disclosed, was pronounced dead in a hospital. One woman was treated for a minor injury, but police said they did not know how she was injured.
The filming was less than a block from the Dolby Theater, which is usually where the Oscars are held, and near the famous corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
Bonta only announced his office’s new procedures last week after the new law went into effect on July 1.
Under those rules, the California Department of Justice said that its California Police Shootings Investigation Team for Southern California was on the scene as soon as it was notified by Los Angeles Police
Once the team’s investigation is complete, it will send its report to the department’s special prosecutor to determine if the officers violated the law.
The LAPD will separately determine whether officials have violated procedural rules or guidelines. Bonta thanked the department for their collaboration.
“Now, more than ever, we must work together in the spirit of this new law to build and maintain the confidence of all of our communities in our criminal justice system,” he said.
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