Civil rights activists alarmed by the fourth officer-involved fatal shooting in Inglewood since May called Monday for congressional and local inquiries into the use-of-force policies of the Inglewood Police Department.
A day after police fatally shot Eddie Felix Franco, a 56-year-old homeless man who was carrying what appeared to be a gun in his waistband, police and city officials refused to disclose details of the Sunday afternoon confrontation. A man sitting in a nearby car was wounded.
At the police station Monday, Lt. Oscar Serrano said that the department was investigating the incident. He replied "no comment" to all questions, including the condition of the wounded bystander.
Police Lt. Steve Overly said that "multiple officers were involved and multiple shots were fired."
Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, who was at the scene of the shooting Sunday but did not speak to reporters, could not be reached for comment Monday.
None of Inglewood's five City Council members were available for comment by phone or at their houses. A man who answered the phone at the home number of Mayor Roosevelt Dorn hung up when a Times reporter called.
Leaders from several Los Angeles-area youth and civil rights organizations expressed concern Monday over what they described as the "extremely controversial circumstances" surrounding four shootings by Inglewood officers in as many months.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, and other leaders said they have appealed to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to hold hearings on the use of deadly force by Inglewood officers.
"This is a small city. It has a small police department, and when you have this number of shootings in such a short period of time, that just leaves so many questions," said Hutchinson, who spoke at the scene of the most recent shooting.
At an Inglewood City Hall rally in July after the third fatal shooting, Hutchinson said, "speaker after speaker voiced their concerns about the Inglewood Police Department and definitely about the use of deadly force. So obviously there's a wide body of concern and opinion in the community."
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) had asked the U.S. attorney general's office to investigate the Inglewood department after the previous shootings.
