Darrell Harts

Los Angeles police officials pledged Tuesday to broaden their investigation into the fatal shooting last month of a Compton police recruit whose death has become the focus of widespread community anger. The expansion of the investigation--to include interviews with additional witnesses--comes after a group of activists appeared Tuesday before the Police Commission and sharply questioned the official account of Darrell Harts' death.

County prosecutors announced Monday that they had decided not to file criminal charges against two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed an off-duty security guard in April in an incident that has created controversy in Southeast Los Angeles. The officers said they shot Darrell Harts, 30, after he fired at them near 93rd and Main streets shortly before 8 p.m. on April 5.

All he wanted was to be a cop. He earned a degree in criminal justice at Utah's Weber State University. Last spring, he graduated from the police academy at Rio Hondo College. And Darrell Harts was at the top of the list of candidates to join the Compton Police Department. But on the evening of April 5, police said, Harts was armed and dangerous. He had just shot his neighbor's dog in South-Central Los Angeles, they said, and then began firing at officers, who returned fire.

Los Angeles police officials pledged Tuesday to broaden their investigation into the fatal shooting last month of a Compton police recruit whose death has become the focus of widespread community anger. The expansion of the investigation--to include interviews with additional witnesses--comes after a group of activists appeared Tuesday before the Police Commission and sharply questioned the official account of Darrell Harts' death.

County prosecutors announced Monday that they had decided not to file criminal charges against two Los Angeles police officers who shot and killed an off-duty security guard in April in an incident that has created controversy in Southeast Los Angeles. The officers said they shot Darrell Harts, 30, after he fired at them near 93rd and Main streets shortly before 8 p.m. on April 5.

About 50 people gathered outside the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast station Thursday to protest the fatal shooting by officers this week of a neighborhood resident who allegedly opened fire on police. Darrell Harts, 30, died Wednesday from multiple gunshots when officers shot him Monday outside a residence in the 100 block of East 93rd Street. Police, who are investigating the incident, said Harts refused to drop a weapon and began shooting toward the officers.

The FBI disclosed Friday that it has launched a preliminary investigation into whether the Los Angeles Police Department violated the civil rights of a southeast Los Angeles man who was slain by two LAPD officers in a shooting in April. FBI spokesman Steven E. Berry said the bureau would forward its findings to the Justice Department's civil rights division in Washington, where it will be determined if charges should be filed. The investigation deals with the April 5 shooting of Darrell Harts, 30. According to the official police version, two officers were on patrol near 93rd and Main streets and approached Harts after hearing gunshots.

Tests conducted by the Los Angeles County coroner's office found no gunshot residue on the hands of a South-Central Los Angeles man who was killed by two Los Angeles police officers last month in an incident that has created controversy in the community. Although the report does not settle a key dispute in the case--whether the dead man fired a gun at police--it is likely to be used by friends and relatives of Darrell Harts, who were outraged by his fatal shooting April 5.

The weight room at Junipero Serra High School was scheduled to be named the Darrell Eugene Harts Memorial Weight Room at a special school ceremony Wednesday night, in honor of the Serra alumnus who was killed in a police shooting last year. Harts, who graduated from Serra in 1980, was killed in April in South-Central Los Angeles by two Los Angeles police officers who said he fired a pistol at them first.

Pity George Swade, coach and offensive coordinator at Harbor College, who has the unenviable task of devising a plan to move the ball Saturday against the Valley College defense. He might have better luck talking George Burns, the 89-year-old comedian, into opening a 30-year IRA account. Valley's defense, which is ranked second in the state among junior colleges, gives up an average of only 180.6 yards a game.

All he wanted was to be a cop. He earned a degree in criminal justice at Utah's Weber State University. Last spring, he graduated from the police academy at Rio Hondo College. And Darrell Harts was at the top of the list of candidates to join the Compton Police Department. But on the evening of April 5, police said, Harts was armed and dangerous. He had just shot his neighbor's dog in South-Central Los Angeles, they said, and then began firing at officers, who returned fire.