Luis Herrera, teen with airsoft gun, fatally shot by LA police: video
Graphic police body camera footage has just been released showing a Los Angeles officer fatally shooting a teenager brandishing an airsoft gun.
Luis Herrera, 19, was shot dead on Sept. 17 after repeatedly calling 911 to get police to his family’s home, claiming that his father was drunk and was beating his mother and him.
Around 1:20 p.m., two officers with LAPD’s Southeast Division responded to the domestic violence call at Herrera’s home in the 400 block of West 102nd Street.
When they approached the residence, Herrera, dressed in all black, emerged from the front door holding “what appeared to be a black rifle,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press release.
In the newly released bodycam video, an officer is heard yelling at Herrera: “Hey! Hey! Hey! Put that down!”
But Herrera refuses to comply with the officer’s commands to drop the rifle, prompting the cops to take a position around the corner.
“Herrera shouldered the rifle and pointed it at the officers, resulting in an (officer-involved shooting),” the release stated.
Herrera was struck by a barrage of gunfire and fell, but continued holding onto the rifle while writhing on the ground in the front yard as his parents watched from the house.
An officer repeatedly ordered the teen to let go of the weapon as Herrera’s mother screamed in anguish off-camera, “That’s my son!”
At one point, Herrera’s father tried to approach his son and told the cops the gun in his hands was a toy, but they yelled at the older man to get back in the house.
Herrera was handcuffed while bleeding profusely and was later pronounced dead at the scene.
It has since been determined that the rifle in Herrera’s hands was an airsoft gun. Police also found a fake handgun made to resemble a Glock pistol at the scene.
A subsequent investigation has uncovered that there was no evidence of domestic violence between Herrera’s parents, contrary to what the 19-year-old had said on the 911 calls.
The officer who fired the shots that killed Herrera has been identified as Luis Navarrete. He has been placed on administrative leave.
LAPD’s Force Investigation Division is looking into the fatal shooting.
At the conclusion of the probe, it will be reviewed by the chief of police, the Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of the Inspector General to determine whether the use of deadly force was justified.
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