Police Shootings

A veteran Los Angeles police officer involved in a controversial shooting more than a decade ago opened fire last week on a group of robbery suspects after one allegedly brandished a gun, according to police. In the afternoon of Aug. 6, Det. Jeff Nolte and his partner, Det. Donald Walthers, who both have worked as LAPD officers for about 20 years, were tracking a group of people suspected in a series of recent robberies in South Los Angeles. The pair were assigned to the department's elite Special Investigation Section.

A San Bernardino man was shot and killed by police after he attacked an officer and pointed a stun gun at him during a traffic stop, San Bernardino police said Tuesday. About 6:30 p.m. Monday, officers spotted a man running from their police car toward a vehicle parked in an alley on North Wall Avenue, Lt. David Harp said. Police approached the vehicle and asked the four occupants to step out. One of the men, identified as Cedric James May, 22, emerged from the back seat, tried to grab an officer's baton and gun, and finally got hold of the officer's Taser and pointed it at the officer's face, Harp said.

Sheriff Lee Baca called for an expedited investigation Tuesday into the fatal shooting of a man by L.A. County sheriff's deputies in Athens. Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca has ordered that the investigation be completed within 90 days. Typically, such probes can take up to a year. The deputies from the Lennox station were near 120th Street and Budlong Avenue on Monday night in search of two men involved in a robbery, Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Cannon said. About 10 p.m., deputies saw two men who matched the description of the robbers in the 1200 block of Poindexter Street and tried to speak to them.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Wednesday that he will convene a panel to examine deputy-involved shootings -- two days after a deputy fatally shot an unarmed man in the back of the neck and side during a foot pursuit. The incident marked the 10th fatal deputy-involved shooting in 2009, twice the number of such cases for the same period last year. The shooting took place Monday in Athens when sheriff's officials said that a man matching the description of an armed suspect placed his hands in his waistband as he ran from a deputy.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has ordered a quicker turnaround on department investigations into deputies who shoot unarmed suspects, a sheriff's spokesman said Thursday. Investigations that typically dragged on for more than a year should be completed within 90 days to "provide better accountability to the communities served," said Steve Whitmore, a department spokesman. Baca's move to speed up such probes coincides with his efforts to address concerns among community activists upset over a shooting Monday in Athens in which a deputy shot and killed an unarmed man. On Wednesday, Baca announced that he was convening a panel of his top shooting experts to examine deputy-involved shootings and the tactics his officers use in such confrontations.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot and killed three armed suspects in separate incidents over the weekend, bringing the total number of fatal deputy-involved shootings so far this year to 13. A deputy was injured during a gun battle in one of the three shootings, and suspects' firearms were recovered after each incident, said Steve Whitmore, a department spokesman. There were five fatal shootings by sheriff's deputies in 2008, Whitmore said. The recent spate of shootings comes less than a week after Sheriff Lee Baca called for an expedited investigation into a deputy's fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Athens on Sept.

Inglewood residents and community activists this week criticized city officials' decision to withhold from the public a report by an independent consultant who was hired to look into several controversial shootings in which police officers fatally wounded unarmed suspects. "Everybody is waiting and waiting to see what this report says," said Adrianne Sears, chairwoman of Inglewood's Citizen Police Oversight Commission, which has not been given a copy of the report. Tony Muhammad, an activist who has also pressed the City Council for the report, said the lack of transparency has led to "discomfort and distrust" among residents.

The family of an unarmed man fatally shot last month by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy filed a legal claim against the county Wednesday, alleging that sheriff's deputies are poorly trained and routinely use deadly force on people who don't pose any threat. On Sept. 14, a deputy chased Darrick Collins up his driveway in Athens and into his own backyard, believing he was a robbery suspect. The deputy saw Collins reach for his waistband, causing him to fear that Collins was going for a weapon, sheriff's officials said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide investigators on Sunday were investigating the shooting of an apparently unarmed robbery suspect who the officers said was fleeing a crime scene Saturday night. Investigators said two officers opened fire because they felt their lives were in danger. No weapons were recovered from the robbery suspect, who was identified by the Los Angeles County coroner as Steven Hernandez, 23, of Huntington Park. The Sheriff's Department did not release the names of the two police officers.

A man who was fatally shot by Pasadena police after he allegedly fired on officers during a routine traffic stop was identified Friday as Leroy Barnes. Barnes, 38, of Pasadena died Thursday on Mentone Avenue south of Washington Boulevard, about four miles north of downtown Pasadena, police said. He was pulled over shortly before 4:30 p.m., said Janet Pope Givens, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena Police Department. The nature of the traffic stop was unclear. Barnes got out of the car and started shooting, and officers returned fire and killed him, police said.