There were protests in South Los Angeles and Hancock Park area this morning, after a man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in South Los Angeles that came at the end of a vehicle pursuit, Los Angeles police said Sunday.
He was identified by the coroner's office Sunday morning as 18-year-old Carnell Snell Junior of Los Angeles.
The shooting was reported at 1 p.m. Saturday in the area of 107th Street and Western Avenue, LAPD Officer Drake Madison said.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, police officials said.
"Officers observed a vehicle that had paper plates that could be possibly stolen,'' LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery said. "They initiated or attempted to initiate an investigative stop. That vehicle failed to yield and the officers showed themselves in pursuit.''
Officers followed the vehicle to Western Avenue and 106th Street, Montgomery said. "A male passenger exited that vehicle and fled on foot. The officers gave chase, a foot pursuit, and went eastbound at some point on 107th Street to the rear of a residence. And it was at that time that the officer- involved shooting occurred.''
The shooting victim was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
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No officers were injured, officials said.
A second male suspect also exited the vehicle, police said. Officials at the scene told reporters the passenger, the driver and the allegedly stolen car remained at large.
People who called themselves relatives of the dead man identified him in news reports as "C.J.," who they say lived on the street where he was shot.
Snell's mother, Monique Morgan, told reporters police would not allow her to see his body. "Please let me see my baby,'' Morgan said.
About 50 people staged a demonstration against the officer-involved shooting starting at about 7 p.m. at 108th Street and Western Avenue.
Some demonstrators blocked the intersection as LAPD officers watched.
The protest was peaceful, according to news reports and a reduced number of protesters remained into the night.
A group of 30-40 protesters showed up at 10:30 p.m. outside Mayor Eric Garcetti's home at 6th Street and Irvine Boulevard in Hancock Park, according to Detective B. Hardy of the Los Angeles Police Department's Olympic Station.
Officers planned to merely watch demonstrators as long as they remained peaceful, Hardy said. Los Angeles Urban Roundtable president Earl Ofari Hutchinson Sunday called upon LAPD officials and the police commission to "conduct an intense review of department policies on the use of deadly force.''
Hutchinson also called for a meeting with Chief Charlie Beck.
"This is a critical point in relations between the police and South L.A. residents given the rising incidences of deadly force in suspect and civilian encounters,'' Hutchinson said.
He noted within days there have fatal police shootings in Pasadena, El Cajon and now South Los Angeles. "It's getting closer to home. A little too close."
