Police Shootings

Two police officers who fatally shot a man during a traffic stop fired at him 11 times, officials said Tuesday. The officers shot Leroy Barnes Jr., 37, of Pasadena after he allegedly pulled a .32-caliber Colt handgun from a backpack and pointed it at them Thursday near Mentone Avenue and Washington Boulevard, Pasadena Police Department officials said. The department had originally said the shooting took place outside his car but after conducting more interviews and gathering additional evidence, officials determined that the shooting took place inside his car during a struggle over the gun, said Janet Pope-Givens, a department spokeswoman.

The district attorney Friday cleared a Harbor Patrol officer of any criminal liability in the fatal shooting in July of a male dancer who went overboard during a party cruise in San Diego Bay. Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis said that Steven Paul Hirschfield, 37, of Los Angeles, was "acting bizarrely" when he was pulled aboard a Harbor Patrol boat. Officers attempted to subdue him with a Taser but, in a struggle, one of the officers felt Hirschfield was about to grab his gun. Another officer, Clyde Williams, was justified in using deadly force to protect himself and fellow officer Wayne Schmidt, Dumanis said.

A 53-year-old woman who had barricaded herself in her La Tuna Canyon home in Sun Valley was fatally shot by police Friday after she walked out of her home with a gun, authorities said. The woman, who was locked in a standoff with police for more than 16 hours, stepped outside about 12:30 p.m., raised a handgun and was shot by an officer, according to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rosario Herrera. The woman, whose identity was not released, was taken to a nearby hospital.

Sheriff's deputies shot a man Sunday after he threatened them with a machete and a baseball bat, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Ernesto Castaneda, 22, died at a hospital, Sheriff's Deputy Byron Ward said. Deputies were called at 11 a.m. to the 3500 block of Temple City Boulevard by Castaneda's father, who reported that his son was under the influence of drugs and armed with a machete, Ward said. When the deputies arrived, they found Castaneda in a nearby backyard wielding the machete, as well as a baseball bat. They ordered him to drop the weapons, but he refused and moved toward them, Ward said.

A high-speed chase Friday morning involving a woman suspected of driving under the influence while carrying an 18-month-old girl in the back seat ended when she was shot and killed by a Santa Ana police officer, authorities said. The woman, who at times was driving at speeds of more than 100 mph and rammed into police cruisers, was pronounced dead at the scene. The girl in the back seat was unharmed and taken to Orangewood Children's Home, said Cmdr. Tammy Franks of the Santa Ana Police Department.

A man carrying a nickel-plated replica handgun was shot and killed Thursday by a Huntington Park police officer who thought the weapon was real, authorities said. Police were called to the 5700 block of Santa Fe Avenue about 2 a.m. because of a report of a man with a gun. Officers arrived as the man was being escorted out of the Kitty Kat Bar by security, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Officers ordered the man to raise his hands above his head, which he initially did, but he then "quickly reached into his waistband with his right hand for what appeared to be a handgun," according to the statement.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office on Saturday identified a knife-wielding man who was shot and killed in Bellflower by an off-duty police officer as Mitchell Marien, 23, of Long Beach. Marien was attempting to rob a Norms Restaurant when he charged toward the officer with a knife and was shot, authorities said. He was pronounced dead in the restaurant at 17844 Lakewood Blvd. early Thursday. An off-duty Gardena police officer eating in the restaurant intervened when Marien began pushing two employees to the back, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Los Angeles police investigators are trying to piece together how a highly determined attacker eluded officers watching a Mid-City apartment and managed to kill a woman who had just filed a domestic violence complaint. Wilshire Division officers who specialize in domestic abuse were on the lookout for the man after taking Flor Medrano's report, counseling her and returning her to her Cochran Avenue apartment Wednesday evening. The officers escorted Medrano, 30, to her door, checked to make sure the apartment appeared safe and then returned to their unmarked patrol car to watch for the suspect, officials said.

A 22-year-old woman who was shot by Huntington Beach police remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday, officials said. She has been identified as Kelly Evans of Bellflower. Police were called to a disturbance at a townhouse in the 5100 block of Pearce Street about 10 a.m. Sunday. Officers found Evans in the laundry room, authorities said.

A man shot to death by two South Pasadena police officers after a short pursuit on Saturday night in Pasadena was holding a BB gun, authorities said Sunday. The victim, a 50-year-old male, was shot several times in the upper torso when he refused to drop the weapon, said Deputy David Cervantes, who said officers believed that the gun was real. Officers were investigating whether the man, whose identity had not been released, was suicidal and perhaps tried to provoke the shooting, Cervantes said.